MEDITATION TIMES

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A PRODUCTION OF www.taoshobuddhameditations.com
Published by: www.taoshobuddhameditations.com
Country of Origin: Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies.
Chief Editor/Graphics Layout & Design: Swami Anand Neelambar
Editorial Team: Swami Anand Neelambar, Taoshobuddha
International Contributors: Hadhrat Maulawi Jalaluddin Ahmad Ar-Rowi, Lars Jensen
Assistant Contributors: Ma Prem Sutra, Swami Dhyan Yatri, Sufi Lakshmi Sahai

For Queries, Comments, and Suggestions and to submit

In This Issue Contributions, you can email the following persons:

Taoshobuddha: mailtaoshobuddha@gmail.com
 Editorial Swami AnandNeelambaravatar411@gmail.com
 Talks by Taoshobuddha
You can also visit
 Consciousness is the seed
www.youtube.com\taoshobuddha9
 Satyam Shivam Sundaram
www.scribd.com\taoshobuddha
 Be ready to receive
www.scribd.com\avatar411
 You are always responsible
taoshobuddha library at
 Kaikeyi
www.DocStoc.com/Taoshobuddha
 Introspection is the way to bliss
E books: www.EBookMall.Com/Taoshobuddha
 Ravana & Kaikeyi
 The Way of Sri Ram Also you can check the blog at
 Be authentic http://bodhidharmameditation.blogspot.com/

 Sri Ram Gita – Introduction http://www.taoshobuddhameditations.myeweb.net/

http://meditationtimes.myeweb.net/
 Adhyatma Ramayana
 Rama and Kaikeyi Samvad

RAMA
 Talks by Taoshobuddha
on

Rama Embodiment of Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram

on

www.youtube.com

1. Rama Embodiment of Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram Pt 1 of 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YSI0VFgVOk

2. Rama Embodiment of Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram Pt 2 of 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQBrd3s9QKo

3. Rama Embodiment of Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram Pt 3 of 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tndXkdVVwM8

4. Rama Embodiment of Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram Pt 4 of 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep2XtbJNeIk
 MEDITATION TIMES
Published by Taoshobuddha Meditations
Trinidad, West indies
EDITORIAL
This issue has been dedicated to Sri Ram – an
avatar, a God of Hindu origins but universal
application.
Sri Ram, the very name is saturated with divinity.
Ram is not just an ideal but he is a being who
played the role of a human and played it so totally
that he transformed his humanity into divinity.
Swami Vivekananda says “to be truly human is to
be divine”.
The story of this magnanimous character Ram was
first recorded in Sanskrit by sage Valmiki. Valmiki
went through a radical revolution in consciousness
and that made him the worthy bard of the epic
Ramayana.
Many other versions and editions of the story have
come into existence since then. Swami
Vivekananda says that as long as mankind exists
the story of Ram and Sita will continue to inspire
humanity. Sri Aurobindo says the Ramayana “has
been an agent of almost incalculable power in the
moulding of the cultural mind of India: it has
presented to it to be loved and imitated in figures
like Rama and Sita, made so divinely and with such
a revelation of reality as to become objects of
enduring cult and worship, or like Hanuman,
Lakshmana, Bharata, the living human image of its
ethical ideals.”
Our attempt in this issue of Meditation Times is to
present a spiritual and mystical dimension to the
story and to unravel the deeper inner imports of
the text – Ramayana. We are especially intrigued
by the Ram- Kaikeyi Samvad. In this discussion
Ram calls Kaikeyi as his ‘janani’. Janani is one who
gives you birth. His actual mother is Kausilya but
why does he call Kaikeyi as his mother and not just
mother as the title can be used for various persons
of that disposition, but he says janani – one who
gives me birth. Kaikeyi actually was the one
because of who Ram could have executed the
reason for his mission. The real spiritual works of
Ram started with his journey to the forest – that
was initiated by Kaikeyi.
One of the more popular editions of the Ramayana
is by Goswami Tulsidasa.
Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas is “a long chant of
religious devotion.” Tulsidas’ famed Hindi
Ramayana “combines with a singular mastery lyric
intensity, romantic richness and the sublimity of
the epic imagination.” – Sri Aurobindo.
Tulsidasa made the story of Ram available to
“common people”. We at Meditation Times are
trying to make every possible dimension of
spirituality available to all who would come from
the various disciplines and schools to thought. In
all of these editorials we over highlight this point.
The era of bigotry, fanaticism and bias has been
long over and has not place in the spiritual realm.
If we continue to believe that our way is the only
way then we can be assured we are not on the
spiritual path. We always encourage all our
readers to persevere in any path that they choose.
And that Meditation Times is like an aashiyaan –
an oasis where a weary traveller can come and
have an intoxicating elixir and linger for a while
until he has rested to continue the mystical
sojourn on the pathless path to life eternal.
 Journey to the abode of Sri Rama – the Totality
One in whom consciousness has blossomed is the embodiment of Shivam - the mystic in action. His gestures, the
music in his words, the poetry of his life, the light and the depths of his eyes all reflect the flowering of
consciousness. Whatever he does, whether he is chopping wood or carrying water from the well, you can see
that there is a subtle difference.

I am speaking of two things here Consciousness and the

Abode of Rama. Try to understand these. Human
consciousness is seed-like that is immortal, it cannot
die. But it can remain dormant. And in fact it can remain
dormant even for lives. And in most of the cases it remains
dormant for lives. Rama is the Hindu name of that
flowering of consciousness. Sri Rama refers to the abode of
inner harmony, oneness, bliss, truth and beauty. And once
the consciousness blossoms its fragrance and beauty lingers
on. The body may perish but the beauty lingers on.
Consciousness has attained fruition in various names and
forms. Rama is one such flowering of consciousness.
However the inner texture of each one of these remains
same.
Presently I am speaking of the blossoming of the seed of
consciousness as Rama the symbol of Idealism for Hindus.
If the right soil is not provided! If the right water is not
provided! If the right exposure to the sunlight is not
provided, it will remain dormant. In such a case
consciousness remains a mere potentiality, a waiting. But it
cannot die. You may die many times, but the seed, once
planted in you, will go on following you wherever you are.
Do not bring you borrowed understanding or knowledge
here. All that is borrowed and has not evolved from within
you cannot take you far.
Unless you give it your attention, nourishment, your care,
your love, it cannot become a living sprout. Small, fresh
green leaves cannot come out of it. Only your love and
your consciousness can create the miracle... and the day
will not be far away when there will be flowers. Love that
you know is synonym for passion – a function of biology.
And the love that I speak is the sunshine of the being. And
consciousness at the gross level refers to understanding and
at subtle plane it becomes the light or sunshine of the
being.
There are people here who have been carrying seeds from
other masters. Therefore there is no need to sow new seeds
in them. In such case all that a master is to help their
dormant seeds to open up for the process to begin.
You are not here for the first time. You have been here
always perhaps with Zarathustra, Pythagoras, Heraclitus,
Gautam Buddha, Rama, or Krishna.
It is very rare that a person who comes to a living Buddha
or a master needs a new seed. You are all ancient people
looking for the right occasion for the journey to continue.
However your religious preceptors think that they are doing
something great by having these people come to him. It is
almost impossible not to have come in contact with one of
the magicians of the soul. Those people are magnets. So in
some life, somewhere, you may have met al-Hillaj
Mansoor, Jalaluddin Rumi, Kabir, Nanak, Rama or Krishna
and the echoes of that association still linger in your being.
And this is the reason that you feel a close affinity when
you come in the company of a living master.
Very rarely do I find a person who is not already pregnant.
But the seed has remained as seed. You have not been a
gardener to it. Somebody, with great compassion, must
have sown the seed. And when a master sows the seed you
are not even aware of it. But you have not been kind
enough to yourself. The seed never dies.
What causes the seed to remain dormant? It is your mind
that causes the problems. If you do not understand that your
mind is full of garbage and is indeed the problem then there
is no solution. This very understanding is enough to get rid
of it. But it seems the problem is that this garbage is paying
you. It is in some way fulfilling your ego.
I am reminded of a great thinker of renaissance, Voltaire.
He was famous in his country, and it was a convention in
the country that if you could get a small piece of cloth from
a famous man like Voltaire, you could make a beautiful
locket out of it. It was a great security, safety against
dangers, disease, sickness, and death.
When Voltaire used to go out of his house, he would come
home almost naked, because crowds would follow him,
tearing his clothes and not only his clothes, he would get
scratched on the body as well. He had to ask for police
protection if he wanted to go to the railway station or to go
to some other place. Without police protection it was
impossible, to move. To reach the railway station naked,
with scratches and blood all over, would not look right but
he deeply enjoyed it. He was the only man in the whole
country who was so much respected. This was a respect
given by people.
But in the world, everything goes on changing. The name
and the fame is just a soap bubble. It may become very big.
However the bigger it becomes, the more dangerous it gets.
And one thing is certain it is going to burst soon.
And the day came. Voltaire was forgotten. Somebody else
had become the celebrity. Now there was no need for
police protection any more. People even forgot that he was
alive. In his notebooks he has written, ‘I enjoyed those
days. But at that time I used to think that it would be better
not to be known at all, just to be nobody, to live silently,
because life had become a nightmare. But when I became
nobody, then I started feeling great despair that I had lost
my respect, my name, my fame.’
And he does not say in his notes that this was what he
wanted, to be nobody. He had become nobody now, but it
was not a joy, it was a defeat.
He wrote further, ‘I am dying a defeated man.’ And the day
he died, only four persons carried his body to the
graveyard. Of the four persons, one was his dog and three
were his neighbors who had to carry the body because
otherwise it would start rotting and the neighborhood
would become a hell to live in. Somehow he had to be
thrown into a grave. So in fact the only person who
lovingly followed was the dog.
And this was the man who had a big following. Thousands
followed him wherever he went. Consciously chosen, it
won’t last long. Never fight with it, because fighting will
not help.
Or if you are courageous enough, see a simple point: even
if you have become very famous and inside you remain just
a wound which is hurting twenty-four hours a day, your
whole life is wasted in misery just to fulfill a non-
existential ego. This is what Happening all around.
Tomorrow you will die, and the day after tomorrow nobody
will remember you. How many successful have been in this
world yesterday? And who cares about them today? And
they all must have suffered in the same way, because what
they were doing was garbage.
You may be a big garbage truck. Big or small nothing
matters. If you can have a little courage and throw away all
this garbage and clean yourself, perhaps something
beautiful may come out of you which may be helpful to
humanity, which may be remembered for centuries; not
only remembered, but may have a certain transforming
effect on people. This is the journey of consciousness. This
is the flowering of consciousness. Once consciousness
flowers then its fragrance and beauty lingers on. All your
scriptures have been composed by those in whom
consciousness has attained fruition. It is the flowering of
consciousness or inner beauty that assumes the form of
scriptures as beacon light.
With this you reach to the abode of the ultimate – Sri
Rama.
All your works and life are just journalistic – just like a
newspaper. These are short lived and other name and fame
are all useless too. Nobody bothers tomorrow about today’s
newspaper. This is your understanding. This has been your
life.
I would like you first to be clean, innocent, and silent. And
then if out of that silence something is born, that will be a
contribution to the universe. Otherwise, out of the garbage
you can go on engaging in actions, but these will be
meaningless. People do not know that somebody has put
his life, and wasted in useless pursuits - running behind
non-essential. Somebody has missed his buddhahood. It is
up to you to choose. It cannot be forced upon anybody.
I can just give you a hint. It is time. And you are mature
enough. Do not go on wasting your life like newspaper
news or novels, and you know all that is garbage. It shows,
because people love to read anything and engage in useless
pursuits. But why should you waste your life?
And you have the possibility to give birth to something
really significant and for this a breakthrough is needed.
You need a discontinuity. You forget what you have been
doing; forget the name and the fame and anything that it
brings to you. Just be nobody, enjoy being nobody.
And I tell you that in being nobody there is a freedom. And
then one day you will find that the seed that is within you
has started growing. And then if something out of your own
experience comes to be written by you, it will be significant
for you, and it will be significant for others as well.
Anything that can really make life a little more beautiful, a
little more musical, a little more poetic, is going to help you
too. It is possible only because of your growth.
Something meaningful evolves out of your very innermost
being. But before that, you have to throw all the rubbish
off; otherwise, the rubbish is so much and the seed is so
small, it is lost in the rubbish. I hope that you will be able
to do what I am saying; otherwise, I would not have said it.
Mind always creates duality; otherwise, to be open or to be
witnessing are not two things. If you are open, you will be
witnessing. Without being a witness, you cannot be open;
or if you are a witness, you will be open -- because being a
witness and yet remaining closed is impossible. So those
are only two words.
You can either start with witnessing then opening will
come on its own accord. Or you can start by opening your
heart, all windows, all doors then witnessing will be found,
coming on its own. But if you are simply thinking, without
doing anything, then they look separate.
Mind cannot think without duality. Duality is the way of
thinking. In silence, all dualities disappear. Oneness is the
experience of silence.
For example, day and night are very clear dualities, but
they are not two. There are animals that see in the night.
Their eyes are more sensitive, capable of seeing in
darkness. For them, there is no darkness. Those animals
cannot open their eyes in the day, because their eyes are so
delicate that the sun hurts. So while it is day for you, for
those animals it is night; the eyes are closed, all is darkness.
When it is night for you, it is day for them. The whole day
they sleep, the whole night they are awake.
And if you ask a scientist and a logician, you will see the
difference. If you ask the logician, ‘What is day?’ he will
say, ‘That which is not night.’ And what is not night? It is a
circular game. If you ask, ‘What is night?’ the logician is
going to say, ‘What is not day?’
You need day to define night, also you need night to define
day. If there is no day, can you think of night? If there is no
night, can you think of day? It is impossible.
Ask the scientist, who is closer to reality than the logician.
For the scientist darkness is less light, light is less darkness.
Now it is one phenomenon, just like a thermometer.
Somebody has a temperature of 110 degrees, just ready to
move out of the house. Somebody has a temperature of 98
degrees, the normal temperature for human beings, but
somebody falls below 96 degrees, again ready for a move.
Your existence is not very big, just between 96 and 110
degrees. Sixteen degrees ... below is death, above is death;
just a small slit in between, a small window of life.
If we could have a thermometer for light and darkness, the
situation would be the same, just as it is between heat and
cold. The same thermometer will do for both. The cold is
less hot and the hot is less cold, but it is one phenomenon;
there is no duality. It is the same with darkness and light.
And the same is true about all oppositions that mind create.
Openness, witnessing if you think intellectually, they look
very different. They seem to be unrelated, how can they be
one? But in experience they are one.
Be open or be witness. That alone is enough for the process
of the seed to start growing. And once the seed of
consciousness blossoms inner harmony, oneness, bliss is
the outcome. To dwell in this blissful existence is the abode
of Sri Rama. This is ENLIGHTENMENT.
 Satyam means the truth. Shivam, means virtue.
Shivam is the mystic in action. Sundaram means beauty.
Mystic is total in his every act, and that totality brings the third word, Sundaram.
Satyam is the experience. Shivam is the action that comes out of the experience.
And Sundaram is the flowering of consciousness of the man who has experienced truth.
These three are the ultimate reality for those who are on the mystical path.

S
atyam is the experience. Shivam is the
action that comes out of the experience. And
beauty is the flowering of consciousness of
the man who has experienced truth. These three
are the ultimate reality for those who are on the
mystical path. This is the embodiment of the
enlightened one. This is why I say – Rama is the
embodiment of Satyam, Shivam, and Sundaram.
The mystic is the greatest flowering of human
consciousness. His ultimate vision can be
described in three beautiful words which have
been used for thousands of years and there has
never been any improvement on them. These are
three words from the ancient most sources:
Satyam, Shivam, Sundram.

The mystic’s conception of the ultimate reality is
the only authentic, and the rare real experience. It
is not a thought or a concept, instead an existential
experience.
But the mystic does not deal with the mind. His
whole effort is to get rid of the prison of the mind.
The mystic is not a philosopher. His world is
beyond all philosophies. Philosophies are simply
byproducts of mental processes. They do not
reflect the reality instead, they only reflect you.
That is why there are so many philosophies in the
world, each contradicting one another.
The reality is one. Then how can there be so many
philosophies? There are not so many mystical
experiences. There is only one experience; neither
time changes it, nor space. Since millennia, the
mystic in every country, in every race, in every
age has experienced the same reality as truth. The
experience is one but manifestation differs. The
philosopher thinks about reality. The mystic
simply drops all thinking. In his silence, and
serenity, he becomes a mirror, and the reality
reflects itself.
Satyam means the truth – not what you think
about it, but what it is; not your idea about it, but
its reality. To know this truth you have to be
utterly absent. Your very presence will distort the
vision. Your presence means the presence of your
mind, your prejudices, and your conditionings.
You are nothing else but a reservoir of all that has
been forced upon you by the religions, the society,
and the so-called leaders of humanity both
religious and political.
Your absence means absence of all prejudices, all
borrowed knowledge, and absence of the
Christian, the Hindu, and the Mohammedan. It is
just a pure sky, and a pure being. I am using the
word absence to deny all that is not you.
But do not misunderstand me. This absence of you
is your real presence. Only the prejudices are
absent, the ego is absent, and your knowledge is
absent – but your being shows in its utter purity.
You disappear as a personality and there remains
only a pure presence. So it is absence on one side
of all that is false in you, and it is presence on the
other side of all that is real in you. In this state you
do not think, instead you simply see. This seeing
of existence is the first experience of the mystic
contained in the word Satyam. Satyam means the
truth – not any conception about it, but Truth
itself.
The second word, Shivam, means virtue – all
which is good, valuable, most precious in you, and
the ultimate good. The man who comes to
experience the truth starts living the truth
immediately. There is no other alternative. His
living the truth is Shivam.
Shivam means truth in action, truth in your life,
truth in your love, truth in your friendship, truth in
your eyes, and truth in your heart. Shivam is the
action arising out of the experience of truth.
Truth itself is the center of the cyclone. But if you
experience the truth, the cyclone around you
becomes Shivam. It becomes pure godliness.
A man of truth is the only proof that the world is
divine. No argument can prove that the world is
divine. I am reminded of one of the greatest
mystics, Ramakrishna. When asked by a logician:
‘What is truth? Do you have any argument,
any evidence for it?’
Ramakrishna laughed hilariously.
He said, ‘I am the argument, and if you cannot see
in my eyes the proof and the evidence, you will
not find it anywhere else. I am the only proof that
existence is not dead, that existence is not only
matter; that existence is not only available to
science, that existence is much more than matter,
that you are much more than the body, that you
are much more than the mind....’
But this ‘much more’ cannot be proved by any
logician, any scientist; only the mystic is the
proof. He can also not prove it by words, but only
by his way of life. The way of life of the mystic is
the only possibility to come in contact with the
divine which is all around you. You are living in
the very ocean of the divine, but the mystic
becomes your first window through which you can
see the non-material, the spiritual, the beyond.
Shivam is the mystic in action – his gestures, the
music in his words, the poetry of his life, the light
and the depths of his eyes. Whatever he does,
whether he is chopping wood or carrying water
from the well, you can see that there is a subtle
difference.
He is total in his every act, and that totality
brings the third word, Sundram.
Sundram means beauty. So this is the mystic
trinity: Satyam, the truth; Shivam, the good, the
divine; and Sundram, the beauty.
You have seen the beauty of the flowers. You have
seen the beauty of the stars. You have seen the
beauty of a bird on the wing. And you have seen
beauties upon beauties of sunsets and sunrises.
However this beauty is totally of a different kind
and quality.
But the greatest beauty is to see the totality, the
intensity of the mystic. That is the greatest
flowering in existence of consciousness itself. It
is available only to those who are humble
enough to receive it, who are not living a closed
life of fear, and paranoia, but who are living a
life of love, with all the windows open, and are
ready to go with life wherever it leads.
These receptive souls are the only real seekers in
the world. These receptive souls are blessed with
their experience of Sundram: the beautiful rose
that is opening in the heart of the mystic. These
three words are so unique, and incomparable,
there is nothing parallel to them.
Truth is the experience, Shivam is the action that
comes out of the experience, and beauty is the
flowering of consciousness of the man who has
experienced truth. These three are the ultimate
reality for those who are on the mystical path.
This is a mystery school. This can happen only in
the company of a master.
All my effort is not to give you knowledge, but to
take all knowledge away from you, to make you
so innocent, just like a newly born child who is
fully conscious, sensitive, alert, but knows
nothing. His not knowing makes every child
experience something which is available only to
the greatest sages of the world.
To understand the psychology and the
development of religious consciousness, I would
like you to start with the child. It is the child’s
experience that haunts intelligent people
throughout their whole life. They want it again –
the same innocence, the same wonder, the same
beauty. It is now a faraway echo; it seems as if
you have seen it in a dream.
But the whole religion is born out of this haunting
childhood experience of wonder, truth, beauty,
and life in its beautiful dance all around. In the
songs of the birds, in the colors of the rainbows, in
the fragrance of the flowers the child goes on
remembering deep in his being that he has lost a
paradise.
It is not a coincidence that all the religions of the
world have the idea in parables that once man
lived in paradise and somehow, for some reason
he has been expelled from that paradise. There are
different stories, different parables, but signifying
one simple truth. These stories are just a poetic
way to say that every man is born in paradise and
then loses it. The retarded, the unintelligent
completely forget about it.
But the intelligent, the sensitive, the creative go on
being haunted by the paradise that they have
known once and now only a faint memory,
unbelievable, has remained with them. They start
searching for it again and again.
The search for paradise is the search for your
childhood again. Of course your body will no
more be a child’s, but your consciousness can be
as pure as the consciousness of the child. This is
the whole secret of the mystical path: to make you
a child again, innocent, unpolluted by any
knowledge, not knowing anything, still aware of
everything that surrounds you, with a deep wonder
and a sense of a mystery that cannot be
demystified.
This is something of fundamental importance to
understand. The scientist is trying to demystify the
existence. His whole effort is to make everything
known. The very word science means knowledge.
The work of the mystic is exactly the opposite of
the work of a scientist. The mystic does not want
to demystify existence. On the contrary, he wants
to become part of this enormous mystery itself. He
does not want to become a knower. Instead he
wants to disappear in the mystery of existence.
I am reminded of a beautiful story. Of course it
cannot be true, but it is so significant that whether
it can be true or not, does not matter at least for
me.
A Chinese emperor called all the painters of his
empire, to choose the greatest painter in the
empire. The emperor himself was in deep love
with painting and he asked the painters, ‘I want to
declare one of you the master painter of my
empire. You are going to be my guest and you
have to paint. I will come to see your paintings
and whichever painting proves to be the best, the
painter will become part of my royal court and the
master painter of the whole empire – with many
rewards.’
Thousands of painters participated in this
competition. One old painter said to the king, ‘It
will take at least three years for me to complete
the painting, and I have few conditions. While I
am making the painting, nobody should enter into
my house. I do not want anybody to see the
incomplete painting. When the painting is
complete, I will invite you.’
The king said, ‘Three years? – this is too much.’
The painter said, ‘Then I can get out of the
competition. Three years is nothing. You do not
know what I am going to paint.’
Reluctantly the emperor agreed. Some of the
painters finished their work in one week, others in
two weeks, and at the most of them finished in
four weeks. But the king was not satisfied. He was
waiting for the old man because without seeing his
painting he cannot declare his judgment.
After three years the old man came and asked the
emperor, ‘Now the painting is complete, you are
welcome.’ He was painting in the king’s palace
itself. He had been given a beautiful palace which
was guarded twenty-four hours a day so that
nobody should enter for three years. Let the
painter do his work unhindered, and un-interfered
with.
The emperor was waiting for three years. It is a
long time and he was old and he was afraid that
perhaps death may come before then. But
fortunately he was still alive. With great wonder in
his heart he entered the palace where the painter
had done his work.
He had painted on a whole wall of the palace, a
beautiful forest with a small river flowing, and a
small footpath going into the deep forest and
disappearing into the mountains that he had
painted.
The king could not believe his eyes. It was almost
miraculous - magical. He was in awe. After a long
silence he asked the painter only one question: ‘I
am very much interested in this little foot path that
goes around the forest, is seen sometimes around
the mountains and then disappears. Where does it
go?’
The painter said, ‘There is no other way to know
unless you walk on it.’
The king completely forgot that it was only a
painting. He was so overwhelmed by the beauty
that he took the hand of the painter in his hand and
they both walked on the path and disappeared into
the mountains. They have not returned yet.
This is the way of the mystic. This is the way of a
master. And for you this is the way of Rama,
Krishna, Buddha, Prophet and Jesus. He
disappears into existence never to return.
The scientist remains always an outsider,
speculating, dissecting, analyzing, but he is not
part of what he is doing. He is just a neutral
objective observer.
The mystic is not an observer.The mystic joins the
dance. He dances with the trees. He dances in the
rain. And he dances with the peacocks too. He
sings songs with Satyam, Shivam, Sundram the
birds. And slowly, slowly merges and melts into
Sri Rama is the embodiment of Satyam, Shivam, and Sundaram
existence. He does not demystify it; instead he
makes it more mysterious. He glorifies the
existence, gives it its splendor, and its majesty. He
makes it the most profound orgasmic experience.
The mystic is a lover, not a knower. His path is of
love, not of knowledge. Love is his God, not logic.
Through his love he has come to realize three
things the truth, the godliness of existence and the
tremendous beauty... the unbelievable poetry, the
song of the silence, the music without songs. Only
the mystic knows without any knowledge.
The scientist has knowledge but knows nothing.
Albert Einstein said to his friends before dying, ‘If
there is another life, I would not like to be a
scientist or a physicist again. This has been a sheer
wastage. I have known so much, but I know
nothing about myself. What is the use of all this
knowledge? My inner world remains dark and I
have been watching faraway stars and the galaxies
and the nebulas and I have not looked at myself.’
Only a man of tremendous intelligence can see the
point: Albert Einstein did not die with
contentment, but with a deep frustration and
disappointment. The world may think that he was
one of the greatest, most successful men, perhaps
the greatest scientist that has ever walked on the
earth. But ask him... He has missed all that is
beautiful, he has missed all that is divine, he has
missed all that makes life a rejoicing.
The mystic’s concern is to create a song in your
heart and a dance to your feet and a joy that never
fades in your very being. Therefore remember
these three words. They are the most beautiful
words ever uttered by anyone, and they reveal the
very essence of the ultimate reality – Satyam,
Shivam, Sundaram.
In fact this is what Rama means to me, His very
presence creates a song and a dance that never
fades. Even after so long the melody of that song
lingers in my being!
T he greatest beauty is to see the totality, the intensity of the
mystic. That is the greatest flowering in existence of
consciousness itself. It is available only to those who are
humble enough to receive it, who are not living a closed life of
fear, and paranoia, but who are living a life of love, with all the
windows open, and are ready to go with life wherever it leads.
These receptive souls are the only real seekers in the world. They
are ever ready to receive. These receptive souls are blessed with
their experience of Sundram: the beautiful rose that is opening in
the heart of the mystic. These three words are so unique, and
incomparable, there is nothing parallel to them.
Truth is the experience, Shivam is the action that comes out of
the experience, and beauty is the flowering of consciousness of
the man who has experienced truth. These three are the ultimate
reality for those who are on the mystical path. This is available
only to those who are ready to receive. The existence is
blossoming each moment. Only you have to open your eyes and
say ‘Yes I am ready to receive and imbibe into my being.’
Life is a synergistic harmony. Each moment, each action, and
everything unfolds into the other thus creating a chain link. Each
moment something dissolves into the dark cave from one end.
And the next moment from the other end evolves as something
new and resurrected. This is life and its process.
You are never in harmony with all that is or is happening. Misery
is the outcome. To flow with life is The Secrets of Spiritual
Life.
The day you decide not to ask for things that you like but
rather to like things that happen, that day you become
mature.
You can lifelong keep wanting and seeking what you like
through various means – prayers and others. This is what is
happening. All your prayers, rituals, are to fulfill your numerous
desires. However these keep you always miserable.
Remember the life and the world does not run according to your
likes and dislikes. There is no guarantee that what you want, life
also wants that for you. And the gap between two is the measure
of your misery and the state of inner growth.
There is no guarantee. There is every possibility that life is
destined toward something that you do not know anything about
at all. Life takes you towards the unknown and unknowable. Life
wants you to trust all that is unknown and unknowable. Life
wants you to move from the dimension of the known to
unknown. However, the mind seeks and hankers for all that is
known.
Everything in this world that really happens is guided by a certain
principle. You can call it by any name. However, no name can
encompass the magnanimity of it. And you are never in harmony
with this.
Sometimes when the thing you like does happen, you will still
not feel very happy. This happens quite naturally. It is so because
whatever we demand, we have already lived in fantasy of it. So it
is already secondhand. If you say that you would like a certain
person to be your lover, then in many dreams and in many
fantasies you have already loved that person. And if it happens,
then the real person is going to fall short of your fantasy. The
person is going to be just a carbon copy, because reality is never
as fantastic as fantasy. Then you will be frustrated.
So is also the case with your dream house. All the while you have
been dreaming this house. In fact you have lived in that house
through your fantasy. And when you really get the house it will
fall short of your expectations. And you will remain miserable
even after you get your dream house.
But if you start liking and be in harmony with all that is
happening moment to moment! If you do not impose your own
will against that of the whole, if you simply are in harmony with
all that happens, you simply say yes – then you can never be
miserable.
Because then no matter what happens, you are always in a
positive attitude, ready to receive it and enjoy all that existence
wants to bestow on you.
Maturity means accepting life, as it is, rather than complain why
life is not going your way. God has no responsibility to fulfil your
wishes. Complaining means you criticize God and are not in
harmony.
Instead welcome the hour of pain as a blessing, because both
pain and pleasure comes from God. When it comes from God,
why resent it? God knows what is best for your development. God
is always with you and takes care of your true needs, but never
bothers with the so – called needs and wishes of your mind.
If pain is to your benefit, God sends you pain, if pleasure is to
your benefit, He sends you pleasure. Both come to you through
His Will. Then, why resent it?
This is exhibited by Rama through his life. Instead of seeking
things he accepted things that came and happened. When he was
to be declared prince and when he was exiled for fourteen years
instead everything was accepted. Such is the understanding of the
one who lives in harmony.
N o conditioning, situation, or being
can entrap the enlightened one again.
He has awakened to the state of the
Self. He lives in a realm beyond the sense
perception of body; emotions of the mind;
and the thinking of the intellect. Thus he
lives blessing the world with his pure
holiness, even if he is not ‘doing’ anything.
His mere presence is an inspiration to the rest
of humanity.
If he is thus liberated from all equipment,
why are the equipment not falling away dead,
when their owner, the ego, has been
liberated? The answer is that the force of its
prarabdha karma keeps the body alive.
The body is the product of our own karma or
vasanas, and it is also a product of the
karmas of others. One can redeem oneself of
all one’s own karmas, but the body still lives
and functions, because of samasti karma or
the karmas of others. This macrocosmic
vasana or tendencies is the equipment of the
Lord or Isvara.
Thus, the Enlightened One functions under
the Lord’s will only. Without any sense of ‘I-
do’ ahankara and any attachment asakti, he
appears to be functioning in the world,
himself ever living the experience of the
infinite Self, Sri Rama.
Once his share of destiny is exhausted, he
merges into Brahman. This state is called
videha-mukti. Even earlier, when others
were considering him as a member of the
community, he was already a liberated
person jivan-mukti.
Life has the potential to become a song of
bliss. A song of bliss that is the outcome of
harmony and oneness but there is every
possibility of missing it too. There is no
certainty that you can sing this song. Also
there is no inevitability about it. It depends
on you. You can make it, or destroy it. In
ninety – nine point nine percent cases people
destroy their song of bliss. Then their life
remains nothing but a cry. A scream of pain,
agony and despair! But they have chosen it
that way. Therefore no one else can ever be
responsible.
This is the first truth that you have to learn in
life. You are always responsible and nobody
else. This brings great freedom. Because then
infinite alternatives open. If you think that
somebody else is responsible then you are a
slave. And nothing is open. Then you have to
be what you are. If your life is a tragedy then
it has to remain tragedy. Remember others
are responsible for their own life as well just
like you. Life goes on like this. And you
think unless they change, nothing can be
done about it. You do not have any freedom
in that case.
And this is the reason that millions of people
live in misery. They go on thinking that
others are creating their misery. Nobody is
creating your misery. Nobody can create
your misery. Also nobody can create your
bliss either. It is a totally individual
phenomenon. It is just your work upon
yourself. And the strange thing is that to
create misery is more difficult than creating
bliss is. But people always choose the
difficult thing, because the difficult always
satisfies their ego.

The ego is not interested in easy things; the
ego is interested only in difficult things. The
more impossible a thing looks, the more
attractive it feels for the ego. Ego feels a
challenge, and only through challenge ego
can really conquer. Only through challenges
ego can prove to the world that ‘I am
somebody special.’
Misery gives you challenge. Bliss is very
simple. Bliss does not challenge you. Trees
are blissful, and birds are blissful. It needs no
special talent to be blissful.
On the contrary to be miserable needs talents.
One has to be really very clever to be
miserable. Bliss is innocent. You can be
blissful even without any education. But you
cannot be miserable without any education!
It is almost impossible. You need degrees,
universities degrees indeed to be miserable.
So the first thing that has to sink deep in the
heart is: ‘I am always responsible for
whatsoever I am. Bliss or misery, this is my
choice. If I have chosen to be miserable, then
there is no need to be sad about it. This is my
choice. And I am happy with my choice.’
Feel happy that you have succeeded in being
miserable! If this is not your choice, then
drop it immediately. Not only that, drop all
those patterns that create misery. And then
start creating new patterns. This will open
new doors from where bliss starts flowing in.
Let me take an example. The person who
wants to be miserable has to think in terms of
fighting with life. That is his gestalt. He is
always fighting with this one or that. Most of
the time, he is fighting for no virtual reason.
The person who wants to be blissful has to be
a non – fighter in the first place. Also he has
to surrender to life. This is a kind of let – go.
The person who wants to be miserable has to
create great ideals. He has to make
impossible demands upon himself. Only then
you can be miserable. Otherwise you will not
be miserable. You have to be this, you have
to be that, and when you cannot be,
frustration settles in.
The man who wants to be blissful has no
ideals at all. He is a not – idealist. Instead he
is a realist. The miserable person is always an
idealist and perfectionist. The blissful person
is a realist. He lives moment to moment
without any ideal. You cannot frustrate him
because he has no expectations.
The miserable person always condemns
himself because he is not raising high enough
to fulfill the demands that he has imposed on
him. He is a constant condemner. He always
lives in self – condemnation.
The blissful person is very accepting of
himself. He demands nothing. He is totally
relaxed and at ease with himself. He loves
himself as he is and accepts as well.
So you have to watch, all that creates misery,
drop; and that which brings bliss like a flood,
create that space in you. And my whole effort
here is to make each one of you a song of
bliss. Making your life as song and a dance
no long faces, but celebration!
So let your life become a celebration. And it
is up to you! It is your choice.
 Kaikeyi the embodiment of divine and boon the way
K aikeyi is the embodiment of the divine and the
boons are the way to the fulfillment of Divine
will for the greater good of humanity. Kaikeyi is
one of the causes for the destruction of Ravana. For many
reasons she is very important character in the entire epic.
Mystically she is the embodiment of knowledge. An
emotion is great energy. However it must be harnessed by
intellect. Without harmony with emotions play a devil’s
role.
My own understanding is there has been a
communication between Rama and Kaikeyi first and then
between Rama and Saraswati after it was announced that
tomorrow morning Rama will appointed Prince designate
officially. There are many things at stake. And the most
important thing at stake is Rama’s incarnation for the
destruction of Ravana. For this storyline has to change.
Among all the characters Rama is the only enlightened
one living life beyond time and space. Kaikeyi can be
trusted because of her awareness. She is an important
instrument. And the rest of the characters are mere
instrument in the hands of time. However the concern of
each one of these is for specific reason.
Rama is concerned about the fulfillment of his promise,
purpose of his birth on earth, salvation of Ravana, and
fulfillment of many curses inflicted upon him. Like an
enlightened one all his accumulated actions have
dissolved. His role is the dissolution of the cosmic
actions.
Kaikeyi is concerned that she had taken a vow that she
will be the cause of the destruction of Ravana and his
clan. For this she had trained Rama herself from the very
beginning.
And the third who has sleepless night is the maid of
Kaikeyi Manthara whose sole purpose in life is the
kingdom for Bharata and the status of queen mother for
Kaikeyi. Shi guided by jealousy, avarice, ignorance and
negation of awareness. Quite often existence uses the
weakness of such a being in the fulfillment of existential
scheme. Manthara is an important link in this process.
After the news of Rama’s coronation was released there
was an atmosphere of celebration and gaiety. Amidst such
an atmosphere there in no sleep in the eyes of Rama,
Kaikeyi and Manthara. Rama goes to Kaikeyi to seek the
solution. Rama enquires:
‘O Mother are you seeing the sequence of events. This is
not what have I assumed the human form. I am not here
to be King instead I am here to fulfill my promise to slay
Ravana and Kumbhakaran and thus establish peace and
harmony. You have to do something to change the course
of events.’
Kaikeyi responds, ‘O beloved son! Embodiment of truth!
You are putting me in a fix. If I change the course of
events Kaikeyi will be hated by the humanity to come.’
Rama continues, ‘O beloved mother you are the
embodiment of awareness. Awareness is closest to truth.
Only your awareness can change the course of events.
Once the man of awareness is ready to be the instrument
in the manifestation of truth the rest the existence takes
care of.’
Kaikeyi assures Rama that she will be an instrument in
this process. Once the person agrees then the negativities
or the weakness of the person is used as an important
tool. Rama instructs Saraswati to take care of the events.
Saraswati first reminds Manthara of the two boons that
king had given to Kaikeyi. Therefore she uses the
weakness in Kaikeyi to fulfill the scheme of Saraswati.
Also a curse was inflicted upon King Dasaratha by the
blind parents of Sharavan Kumar that just as they had
given life because of their son so too the grief of
separation from his son Rama he will die. All these events
have to take their course in the scheme of the existence.
He events that follow are well known. From there we go
into the main storyline.
According to the Ayodhya Kanda of Valmiki Ramayana,
it is from Manthara we learn about the boons. Before
Kaikeyi enters the Chamber of Anger, she reminds
Kaikeyi of the boons, asking her, ‘Don’t you remember?’
For, Kaikeyi seems to have forgotten them. Manthara
then tells the queen the story that she herself has told
Manthara several times.
Manthara reminds Kaikeyi of boons
‘Long ago,’ says Manthara, ‘the king went to help Indra
in the battle between the Devas and the Asuras, taking
you along with him. There is a famous city called
Vaijayanta in the south, situated in the Dandaka forest,
and there lived a great Asura called Shambara, whose
emblem was the whale and who was a master of a
hundred illusions. Such was his might that the gods had
never been able to vanquish him in battles. Once
Shambara started a war with Indra and during the war
when the warriors used to sleep exhausted in the night,
Rakshasas used to pull them out of their beds and kill
them.’
‘King Dasaratha too,’ Manthara continues, ‘fought with
the Asuras in that great war and was badly wounded by
their weapons. And you, my queen, then drove the king
away from the battlefield while he was unconscious. And
when the Asuras attacked him there too, you drove him
away from them again until he reached safety.
Pleased, the king gave you two boons. You told him you
would ask for those boons when you needed them and the
king agreed.’
Manthara tells Kaikeyi she had no knowledge of this until
the queen had told her of it. And then she tells Kaikeyi to
use these two boons and ask the king to consecrate
Bharata as the crown prince and send Rama to the forest
for fourteen years.
According to this version of the Valmiki Ramayana, the
boons were given to Kaikeyi by the king in the battlefield
during a war between the Devas and the Asuras, in
gratitude and in appreciation of her heroic feat of saving
him.
According to Valmiki Ramayana, Kaikeyi also treats the
wounds of Dasaratha, apart from saving him from the
midst of enemies in the battlefield. The Telugu Dvipada
Ramayana adds another dimension to Kaikeyi’s
impressive expertise – she betters Shambara in the arts he
is best at – illusions. She had learned these from a master
and was a great adept at this herself.
According to another Pauranic version, Kaikeyi puts her
finger in the pinhole of Dasaratha’s chariot wheel when
the wheel pin falls off during the battle and thus keeps the
wheel in place. In some others it is her hand she puts in
when the axle breaks off. A pleased Dasaratha offers her
boons, which she says she would claim when she needs
them.
In the Bhavartha Ramayana too this later version
appears but the war is between Indra and Dasaratha.
According to ‘Krittivasa Ramayanum’, Kaikeyi gets her
first boon during the war with Shambara and the second
one when she sucks out pus from Dasaratha’s wound.
There is also a story that tells of how Kaikeyi heals
Dasharatha when he is stung by a scorpion and that is
when she gets her second boon.
In the Vasudevahindi, she gets her first boon when she
pleases Dasaratha with her skill in the erotic arts and the
second one when she goes out with an army and wages a
war with a border king and vanquishes him when he had
taken Dasaratha a prisoner.
In the Brahma Purana, she gets three boons for
supporting the axle during the Devasura war. In the
Mahabharata Vanaparva version as well as in some
other stories, she gets only one boon. And in the Pauma
Charia, this boon is given to her for driving Dasaratha’s
chariot while he fought the kings who attacked him
immediately after his wedding with Kaikeyi.
There exists a beautiful relation between a man and his
wife that we see here – a relation that echoes without a
mistake the wonderful, intimate relation between
Dasaratha and Kaikeyi that Valmiki portrays.
Valmiki’s Ramayana mentions clearly that it is to Kaikeyi
that Dasaratha went in his moments of need. It was with
her he wanted to be when he was tense, excited, in
emotional turmoil or charged up in any other way. On the
eve of the abhisheka, after Dasaratha was able to
persuade his samantas, important officers and other
‘senior’ citizens for the crowning of Rama as the
yuvaraja, it is to her palace he went seeking release.
When Manthara comes and informs her about the
decision to crown Rama, she is delighted beyond words.
She does not seem to hold it against Rama that he does
not come and inform her about it – though Rama was
always the first in her love, Bharata only the second,
though she always treated Rama as her eldest son and
Bharata only as the second one. She is so delighted at the
news of Rama’s coronation; she practically dances at the
news. She gives a costly ornament to Manthara for
bringing the news, which she describes as ‘nothing can be
happier than this’, and tells Manthara to ask for anything
else she desires and it shall be given, for she is not
contented with what she has given. In the Ramayana,
until Manthara persuades her after an arduous, tireless
battle with her, Kaikeyi never has any desire for the
kingdom for Bharata.
But here at the first opportunity she gets, she asks for the
crown for Bharata and exile for Rama. Interestingly,
Dasaratha does not give her two boons – but she asks for
two, or at least a boon with two parts to it.
We pronounced Kaikeyi evil because we loved Rama so
much and her action had hurt him. No child in India was
ever named Kaikeyi after that, though in the Valmiki
Ramayana she is, beyond any doubt, one of the most
admirable women, probably the most gifted woman of her
age.
 Introspection the way to bliss
People go on committing atrocities but never reflect back on their
actions or introspect. Reflecting, introspecting and witnessing
one‟s actions is the way to salvation. This clears the consciousness
of the person.
Most of the writers have overlooked the Character of Kaikeyi in
the episode of Ramayana. Kaikeyi is the second and favorite
queen of the King Dasaratha. The king had three queens. The
eldest being the embodiment of love and devotion came to be
known as Kausalya. Kaikeyi being the embodiment of knowledge
or awareness is the second. Knowledge must always be controlled
by love. And lastly Sumintra is the youngest or the third queen.
She is the embodiment of action. Or the three queens are the
embodiment of Satyam, Shivam and Sundaram. Kausalya
represents Satyam – because love alone is truth. Kaikeyi is the
Shivam – truth in action and Sumintra is Sundaram – flowering of
truth.
Satyam is the experience. Shivam is the action that comes out of
the experience. And Sundaram is the flowering of consciousness
of the man who has experienced truth. These three are the
ultimate reality for those who are on the mystical path.
Dasaratha mystically represents totality of consciousness. Of
which Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumintra manifest three aspects
Love, Awareness and Action. And wherever this Trinity exists
bliss manifests in its totality.
Kaikeyi sat alone on the bank of the river introspecting. She
scrawls in the sand „Rama‟. It is said that one utterance of the
name „Rama‟ is equivalent to a million penances. Ahalya was
turned back from stone to woman just by the touch of his foot.
Kaikeyi reflects all the events in retrospect.
„Rama my dear eldest son, Kaikeyi addresses! No stepson. The
one I cruelly banished into the forest along with his gentle,
innocent wife and loving brother Lakshmana. Rama the son,
without whom his father Dasaratha could not live! My husband
Dasaratha whose death I unknowingly brought through Rama‟s
banishment. Rama the favorite brother of my own son Bharata!
My Bharata, who barely tolerates my presence for the sake of my
darling Rama! Rama who has forgiven me and Rama, who has
forgiven Manthara, the crooked hunchback who poisoned my
mind! My own dear nursemaid, Manthara, who kindled my
avarice to be the queen mother. Manthara told me that Rama‟s
exile and Bharata‟s coronation would extend the privileges I
enjoyed as the king‟s favorite queen.‟
„I never knew that someone who espoused my cause, whom I
trusted from childhood, would give me advice that would bring
about my downfall. I never knew that Bharata, my own son, would
despise me for banishing his brother and causing his father‟s
death. I have brought widowhood upon my own head and that of
my co-wives for no fault of theirs. My fault! Could Manthara have
poisoned my mind if there was no fault in me? No greed, no folly,
no jealousy, no vanity? She merely churned my mind a little and
all the poison in it came to the surface like butter from buttermilk.
The villainy must have always been dormant in my heart.‟
„Rama the son of Kausalya whose grief is so hard to see!
Kausalya, my co-wife who lost her husband and son because of
me. Who grieves, but does not blame, or retaliate. Bharata turns
only to Kausalya for support, so much does he feel ashamed of
me.‟
„I am lonely. I too have lost my husband and sons. Rama I exiled,
Lakshmana went with him to be of service to him. The remaining
two now live with their pain of separation. They haven‟t ordered
me dead, imprisoned or exiled. It is against their Dharma to ill-
treat a woman, their mother. The Dharma that I forsook at the time
I exiled my eldest son. When I caused them to lose their father the
Dharma that my sons will never forsake and will always fight to
preserve‟.
„Rama everyone misses you – but I suffer most – because it was
MY FAULT‟. This is how Kaikeyi felt.
Kaikeyi started to weep as if it would break her heart. And she
went on writing Rama‟s name in the sand. Her ornaments she had
long donated. She lived as simply as a hermit. She served whom
she could and practiced living unselfishly like her sons and co-
wives. But the same words rang again and again in her head. „Oh
Rama, My Fault., My Stupidity‟.
Rama‟s fourteen years of exile ended. He flew back to Ayodhya in
the Puspaka Vimana with Sita, Lakshmana and his victorious
Vanara Army. There was a great welcome for him in Ayodhya.
The city buzzed with stories of Sita‟s abduction by Ravana,
Rama‟s search for Sita, his friendship with the Vanara king
Sugriva, Hanuman‟s discovery of Sita in Lanka, the bridge the
Vanaras built across the sea to Lanka and Ravana‟s death at
Rama‟s hands in battle. Ravana, that terrible ten headed Rakshasa,
the violator of women and greatest burden to mother earth.
Kaikeyi gazed upon her son with pride. „My Rama. My son. My
fault. But if it hadn‟t been for me., mother earth would be still be
burdened by that monster Ravana. Isn‟t that so, dear sage?‟ She
asked Vasishtha, the royal guru. And probably Vasishtha would
have replied,
“AHANKARA VIMUDHATMA KARTHAHAMITI MANYATE.
He who is deluded by egoism, thinks that he is the kartha – ‘doer’.
Neither were you the cause of Rama‟s exile, nor anyone‟s
suffering. Nor are you the cause of Ravana‟s death and Rama‟s
victory. Our divine Sri Hari is the only cause, the only doer. We
are only the instruments, the players.”
Things and event happen on their own because of the thoughts that
you nourish and accumulate moment to moment. These become
your accumulated actions and journey of life continues.
This I shall explain now!!!
The Moving finger writes, and having writ moves on, Nor all thy
wit nor piety shall cancel half a line.
W
hen this issue of Meditation Times was
planned by the Chief Editor it was decided
to make this issue related to Sri Rama the
question was from where to start.
One and the simplest way was to present the usual
way that you know. But that was not going to help you
in the process of transformation. And if everything is
given in details it will be difficult and that too is not
possible. The role of Meditation Times is to present
deeper insights into life, living and all that is
concerned with these. Therefore you are given insight
into various aspects of the Epic of Rama.
Without understanding the role of Ravana and Kaikeyi
you will not know the relevance of Rama and the epic
Ramayana. These are the main negative characters
around whom the storyline revolves.
Ravana
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Ravana is the primary antagonist character of the
Hindu epic, the Ramayana. He is the demon king of
Lanka. In the epic he is mainly depicted negatively,
infamously causing atrocities on sages, kidnapping
Rama’s wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and
his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of
his sister Surpanakha.
Science says atoms cannot be destroyed. Matter is
destroyed and with the combinations of electrons,
protons and neutrons new matter takes form. So too it
is your thought pattern that act as the essence of all.
First a thought is created. Together many thoughts
create actions. And this process continues. Thoughts
go on accumulating so are the actions. Accumulated
actions give rise to the body-mind-intellect realm. And
the process continues until one day thinking is
dropped and with awareness all accumulated actions
are dropped then there will be no more life. The body-
mind-intellect realm has dissolved in totality. This is
enlightenment. Therefore to know someone we need
to go into the past. This is a psychological process. A
psychoanalyst can go into life up to the age of 5.
Psychoanalysis is not developed to go beyond this age.
It is the psychology of Buddhas that can take you
beyond this age. And only when you go beyond the
age of five you can really enter the real past. The
purpose of these stories and epics is to bring a deeper
understanding in you so that the process of
transformation may begin in you and you can attain to
salvation.
The past accumulated actions of Ravana in another
form are responsible for his present form as Ravana.
And when there is awareness new actions do not
accumulate and the existing ones are exhausted one
attains to Jeevan-Mukti or freedom from body-mind-
intellect realm. This is the law of Karma. No one can
escape. Let me take you into the past lives of Ravana
to understand the role of Ravana.
Cursed to be born Ravana
Ravana and Kumbhakaran are two brothers who are
equally responsible for atrocities on the sages. In the
past there were two attendants Jai and Vijaya as
guards at the entrance to heaven – the abode of
Vishnu. Their role was to allow the right person enter
the abode.
The mythological story goes that the revered sages,
the Four Kumaras, Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and
Sanatakumara, came to visit Vishnu in Vaikuntha.
Although they were very old, yet they appear to be
children. So thinking them to be children Jaya and
Vijaya stopped the revered sages from entering
Vishnu’s abode on counts that the lord had other
preoccupations. The sages having taken great
measures to travel to Vishnu’s abode were furious at
the insolence shown by the gatekeepers and cursed
Jaya and Vijaya to be born as mortals and roam the
earth (Bhuloka). The gatekeepers reported back to
Vishnu of the incident that had taken place. Vishnu
was disappointed at the lack of judgment shown by
Jaya and Vijaya, in that he has time for all his
devotees and would have taken time to meet with
them regardless of other preoccupations.
Vishnu received the sages himself and the sages were
speechless. They requested the Lord to decide the
punishment himself. Vishnu told them that he could
not take back the curse, but could give them options
on how the curse would be lived out. He gave them
the option either to be born several many times as
great devotees of the Lord Vishnu, or a three times as
powerful individuals that were the sworn enemies of
the Lord Vishnu, and to die at the hands of Lord
Vishnu.
The dwarapalakas chose to be born a three times as
enemies of Vishnu, and took the form of the demons
each time they assumed human form:
1. Hiranyaksh and Hiranyakashyapu in Krita
Yuga in the first life
2. Ravana and Kumbhakaran in Treta Yuga in
their second life
3. Dantvakra and Shisupala in Dwapara Yuga in
their third life.
In this era, known in Sanskrit as the Kali Yuga, Jaya
and Vijaya are free from their curse, and they can be
seen as gatekeepers in Vishnu temples (and temples
affiliated with Vaishnavism). Famous temples where
statues of Jaya-Vijaya stand are the temple of
Venkateswara in Tirumala (and at several many
Venkateswara temples worldwide), the temple of
Jagannath in Puri, and the temple of Ranganatha in
Srirangam. However, Jaya-Vijaya dwarapalakas are
most commonly associated with Venkateswara
temples in the United States of America.
Curses on Ravana
There were two curses inflicted upon Ravana that
assisted in the slaying of Ravana. The first curse was
inflicted by the ancestor of Rama. There have been
constant fights between the forces of Ravana and that
of the Aryan kings. Ikshvaku was sun clan that
engaged in constant battles with Ravana. One of the
King Aranya has fought a battle with Ravana in which
he was killed. After defeating the king Ravana
insulted the defeated at this the King from the
Ikshvaku clan cursed Ravana that he will be killed in
the hands of one of the kings of this clan.
The second curse was inflicted by Vedvati.
Certain versions of the Ramayana suggest that Sita
was a reincarnation of Vedavati (an avatar of Mother
Laxmi), an orphan lady. The legend goes thus:
Sage Kushadhwaja was a learned and pious scholar
residing in a remote hermitage. His daughter Vedavati
grows up in her father’s hermitage to become an
ardent devotee of Vishnu, and resolves early in life to
wed no one other than Vishnu. Her father refrains
from stifling her aspirations, and even rejects
proposals from many powerful kings and celestial
beings who seek his daughter’s hand in marriage.
Among those rejected is Sambhu, a powerful Daitya
king. Smarting under his humiliation, Shambhu seizes
an opportunity and murders Vedavati’s parents on a
dark moonless night.
Vedavati continues to reside at the hermitage of her
parents, meditating upon Vishnu. She is described as
being inexpressibly beautiful, dressed in the hide of a
black antelope, her hair matted, and the bloom of her
youth enhanced by her austerities. Ravana, the ruler of
Lanka, once finds Vedavati seated in meditation and is
captivated by her beauty. He propositions her and is
rejected. Ravana mocks her austerities and her
devotion to Vishnu; finding himself firmly rejected at
every turn, he tries to molest Vedavati, pulling her
hair. This greatly incensed her, and she forthwith cut
off her hair, and said she would enter into the fire
before his eyes, adding,
‘Since I have been insulted in the forest by thee who
art wicked-hearted, I shall be born again for thy
destruction.’
So she entered the blazing fire, and celestial flowers
fell all around. It was she who was born again as Sita,
and was the moving cause of Ravana’s death, in the
hands of Rama.
Her chastity thus sullied beyond redemption, Vedavati
immolates herself on a pyre, vowing to return in
another age and be the cause of Ravana’s destruction.
She is duly reborn as Sita, wife of Rama, and became
the direct cause of Ravana’s destruction at his hands.
In the process, Vedavati also receives the boon she so
single-mindedly sought: Vishnu, in his avatara as
Rama, becomes her husband. In some versions of the
Ramayana, sage Agastya relates this entire story to
Rama.
Valmiki wrote ‘The Ramayana’, an ancient Sanskrit
epic thought to have been compiled between
approximately 400 BCE and 200 CE ‘The Ramayana’
does not mention Sita as Ravana’s daughter. However,
the other versions of Ramayana started recreating
stories telling Sita as daughter of Ravana and have
their own explanation of why Sita was Ravana’s
daughter.
In each life Ravana was aware of this curse and for
him it was conscious action. Ravana is described as a
devout follower of Shiva, a great scholar, a capable
ruler and a maestro of the Veena. He has his
apologists and staunch devotees within the Hindu
traditions, some of whom believe that his description
as a ten-headed person is a reference to him
possessing a very thorough knowledge over the 4
Vedas and 6 Upanishads, which made him as powerful
as 10 scholars. According to alternative interpretation
he is guided by and does not have control over the five
senses and five bodily instruments of action. His
counterpart, Rama, on the contrary, is always in full
control of these ten. However, there is mention in
Atharvaveda of Demonic Brahmans called Dasagva
(ten-headed) and Navagva (nine-headed). These early
beings may be the actual forerunners of the later
character in the Ramayana.
Ravana also authored Ravana Sanhita, a powerful
book on the Hindu astrology, also known as Lal Kitab.
Ravana possessed a thorough knowledge of Ayurveda
and political science. He is said to have possessed the
nectar of immortality, which was stored under his
navel, as a celestial boon by Brahma. According to
some theories, he was a historical emperor who
reigned over Sri Lanka from 2554 BC to 2517 BC.
Birth
Ravana was born to a great sage Vishrava (or
Vesamuni), and his wife, the daitya princess Kaikesi.
He was born in the Devagana gotra, as his
grandfather, the sage Pulastya, was one of the ten
Prajapatis or mind-born sons of Brahma and one of
the Saptarishi (Seven Great Sages Rishi) in the first
Manvantara. Kaikesi’s father, Sumali or Sumalaya,
king of the Daityas, wished her to marry the most
powerful being in the mortal world, so as to produce
an exceptional heir. He rejected the kings of the world,
as they were less powerful than him. Kaikesi searched
among the sages and finally chose Vishrava, the father
of Kubera. Ravana was thus partly Brahmin and
partly Daitya.
Even though he was partly Brahmin and partly
Rakshas, Rama praised Ravan as Mahabrahmin. Rama
had to do Ashwamedha yagna as penance for killing a
Brahmin (Brahma hatya dosha).
Ravana had three brothers Vibhishana, Kumbhakarna
and Ahiravana and a sister Meenakshi (‘girl with fish
like eyes’), although later she was dubbed the
infamous Shoorpanakha ‘winnow-like nails’. Through
his mother, he was related to the daityas Maricha and
Subahu.
His father Vishrava noted that while Ravana was
aggressive and arrogant, he was also an exemplary
scholar. Under Vishrava’s tutelage, Ravana mastered
the Vedas, the holy books, and also the arts and ways
of Kshatriyas (warriors). Ravana was also an excellent
veena player and the sign of his flag had a picture of
veena on it. Sumali, worked hard in secret to ensure
that Ravana retained the ethics of the Daityas.
Kartavirya Arjuna humbles Ravana. The Ramayana
tells that Ravana had close connections with region of
the Yadus, which included Gujarat, parts of
Maharashtra and Rajasthan up to Mathura south of
Delhi. Ravana is believed to be related to Lavanasura,
(Ravana being the uncle) also regarded as a Rakshasa,
of Madhupura (Mathura) in the region of the
Surasenas, who was conquered & killed by
Shatrughna, youngest brother of Rama.
After worshipping a Shiva Linga on the banks of the
Narmada, in the more central Yadu region, Ravana
was captured and held under the control of King
Kartavirya Arjuna, one of the greatest Yadu kings. It
is very clear from the references in the Ramayana that
Ravana was no commoner among the Humans or
Asuras, a great chanter of the Sama Veda.
Tapas to Brahma
Following his initial training, Ravana performed an
intense penance to Brahma (the Creator God), lasting
several years. During his penance, Ravana chopped
off his head 10 times as a sacrifice to appease Brahma.
Each time he sliced his head off a new head arose,
thus enabling him to continue his penance. At last,
Brahma pleased with his austerity, appeared after his
10th decapitation and offered him a boon. Ravana
asked for immortality, which Brahma refused to give,
but gave him the celestial nectar of immortality. The
nectar of immortality, stored under his navel, dictated
that he could not be vanquished for as long as it lasted.
Ravana also asked for absolute invulnerability from
and supremacy over gods, heavenly spirits, other
Rakshas, serpents, and wild beasts. Contemptuous of
mortal men, he did not ask for protection from these.
Brahma granted him these boons in addition to his 10
severed heads and great strength by way of knowledge
of divine weapons and magic. Thus Ravana came to
be known as ‘Dasamukha’ (Dasa - ten, mukha -
mouth/face).
Kaikeyi
Kaikeyi in the Hindu epic Rāmāyaṇa, was the second
of King Daśaratha’s three queens and a queen of
Ayodhyā. She was the mother of Bharata. The term
Kaikeyī in Sanskrit means ‘belonging to the
Kaikeyas’, referring the ruling family of the Kekaya
clan, to whom Kaikeyī belonged.
The daughter of the mighty Ashwapati, a long-term
ally of Kosala, Kaikeyi married Dasaratha after the
latter had promised her father that the son born of her
womb would succeed him as King of Kosala.
Dasaratha was able to make this promise as his first
wife, Kausalya, was childless and not likely to
produce a son of her own. Kaikeyi also remained
barren for many years of marriage, as a result of which
Dasaratha married Sumitra, the princess of Magadha,
another kingdom with strong political ties to Kosala.
Kaikeyi’s personality is worth examining and provides
a strong clue to her motivations which later led to her
insisting on the exile of her stepson from Ayodhya. As
a young girl and the only sister to seven brothers,
Kaikeyi grew up without a maternal influence in her
childhood home. Her father had banished her mother
from Kekaya after realizing that his wife’s nature was
not conducive to a happy family life. Amongst other
things, due to a boon, Ashwapati was able to
understand the language of the birds. However, this
was accompanied by a caveat that if he ever revealed
the content ‘ spoken by the bird speak’ to anyone,
even his own mother, that he would forthwith lose his
life.
One day, the King and his Queen were strolling
through the palace gardens when Ashwapati happened
to overhear the conversation of a pair of mated swans.
The conversation so amused him that he laughed
heartily, instigating his wife's curiosity. Despite being
aware of the fact that he could not divulge the content
of the conversation to her, without losing his life,
Kaikeyi’s mother insisted on knowing the cause of the
King’s mirth. When Ashwapati realized that his wife
cared little for his life or well-being, he had her
banished to her parents’ home.
Kaikeyi never saw her mother again. She was raised
by her wet nurse, Manthara, who accompanied
Kaikeyi to Ayodhya as a trusted maid upon her
marriage to Dasaratha. Her father’s treatment of her
mother and the latter’s subsequent exile led to Kaikeyi
harboring a deep distrust of men in general and
husbands in particular, and to considering their love as
‘fickle’ and ‘passing’ in nature. In addition, she was
very insecure in her position as secondary consort to
Dasaratha. She realized that Dasaratha deeply
respected his Queen and Empress, Kausalya, and had
only married her in order to produce the much-needed
heir. To this end, Kaikeyi realized that her position in
her husband’s affections and esteem relied heavily on
her ability to produce that heir. When she remained
barren, she became increasingly insecure and realized
that she could never win in her struggle for supremacy
over Kausalya, although Manthara proved to be a
great help in this regard. The older woman schemed
constantly to further her own position at the Court.
And since her position depended on Kaikeyi’s status
at Court, Manthara lost no opportunity to feed the
young Kaikeyi’s insecurity and jealousy of Kausalya,
despite Dasaratha’s obvious enchantment and love for
all of his wives. It is important to point out that other
sources state that Kaikeyi was not insecure, that she
loved her other Queen sisters, and was the backbone
of the group. She had saved King Dasaratha in battle
and demonstrated her warrior courage.
Manthara’s scheming paid off when Kaikeyi was able
to convinced her husband to take her along with him
during a military campaign against Samhasura, an
enemy of both Indra and Dasaratha. During a fierce
battle between the two, the wheel of Daśaratha's
chariot broke and Samhasura’s arrow pierced the
King’s armor and lodged in his chest. Kaikeyi, who
was acting as Dasaratha’s charioteer, quickly repaired
the broken wheel and then drove the chariot away
from the battle field. She nursed the wounded King
back to health. Touched by her courage and timely
service, Dasaratha offered her two boons. However,
Kaikeyi chose to ask those boons later. In addition,
she became his favorite wife and finally gained
ascendancy over Kausalya.
Years passed and all three Queens produced sons.
Rama, the son of Kausalya, was Dasaratha's favorite
son. Rama was a loving, obedient child who followed
his father's footsteps and revered Kaikeyi over his own
mother, leading to the former’s deep love and
affection for him. When he turned 16 and was to be
crowned King, Kaikeyi was delighted and as happy as
she would have been had it been her own son,
Bharata’s, coronation. However, Manthara, worried
that Kaikeyi would lose her status as Chief Queen at
Court if Rama ascended the throne (making Kausalya
the Queen Mother) decided to instigate trouble She
fueled Kaikeyi’s dormant jealousy and envy of
Kausalya, reminded her that her son’s coronation
would give Kausalya her former status as the most
important of Dasaratha’s Queens and would cut
Bharata out of the royal lineage forever. Finally,
Kaikeyi’s ardent desire to retain superior status over
Kausalya motivated her to demand the two boons
granted to her years earlier by Dasaratha and to further
remind him of his promise to Ashwapati that the son
born of her (Kaikeyi’s) womb should succeed
Dasaratha as King of Kosala. In order to ensure that
Rama would be no threat to her son, Kaikeyi further
demanded the exile of Rama from Ayodhya for 14
long years, reasoning that this length of time would be
enough for Bharata to consolidate his position as King
of Kosala.
But Kaikeyī’s desire never bore fruit. After sending
his son into exile, a grief-stricken Dasaratha died of a
broken heart six days after Rama left Ayodhya. She
came to blame herself for this death. Furthermore,
Bharata swore never to ascend the throne as it was his
older brother’s birth right. He further blamed her for
his father’s death and is said never to have addressed
her as ‘Mother’ again. Kaikeyi was said to have died a
lonely and broken-hearted woman, estranged from her
son, his wife (the cousin of Rama’s wife, Sita) and
their two sons, her only grandchildren.
Kaikeyi’s Resolve
And indeed Kaikeyi was convinced about the injustice
being done to her son Bharata! She was angry and did
not come out to greet her husband Dasaratha.
Therefore, the king himself went her chamber and
inquired about her wellbeing. In fact the king loved
queen Kaikeyi the most!
But today the words of Manthara had done their trick.
Queen Kaikeyi reminded Dasaratha about the two
boons he had promised her years back. The king
remembered and was in fact pleased to grant the boons
on that auspicious day. And as the fate had it, Kaikeyi
asked:
1. Of the first boon, O my beloved husband, I ask
that instead of Rama Bharata be given the
throne of Ayodhya, and,
2. Of the second boon, I ask for the banishment
of Rama to the forest for fourteen years.
The king was not prepared for such unusual demands.
He tried to persuade the queen to ask for something
else, but no. Kaikeyi was firm in her resolve. The king
went for compromise in granting the throne to Bharata
but pleaded with his queen not to insist to send Rama
to Forest. But still, no. Kaikeyi was firm on both the
counts.
King Dasaratha was heartbroken on listening to the
resolve of Kaikeyi to send Rama to the forest for
fourteen years. He could not imagine even in dream
that his most beloved son Rama would be put to such
an acid test. He knew that the separation from Rama
would be the last thing his old and frail body could
tolerate. With heavy heart, he pleaded with his wife,
‘O Kaikeyi, what has possessed your kind heart! Why
has your love for Rama disappeared! Please say that
you are speaking in jest, and that you are not serious
about your two demands.’
‘Ask for anything else. Ask for many palaces and
jewelry, ask for army of thousands of elephants and
horses, ask for my life, but spare my Rama from the
hardships of forest and banishment to the life of
recluse. I grant Bharata the throne of Ayodhya.’
But, no, Kaikeyi was firm as a rock in her demands.
Said she, ‘Come what may you must keep your word
of honor. If you fail, you will see my corpse at the
sunrise next morning.’ She also reminded the King
about the lofty tradition of keeping promises even at
the cost of life in the Raghu dynasty.
The news reached the chamber of Rama and Sita, as
also all around the palace, that something grossly
inopportune has happened to the king, and that he is ill
in the chamber of Kaikeyi. The Prime Minister -
Sumanta - was summoned by the king to fetch Rama
to the chamber of Kaikeyi.
When Rama reached there he saw his father lying
semiconscious on the floor full of grief and pathos.
His eyes were filled with tears of desperation and
sorrow. Rama pleaded with Kaikeyi to tell him what
had happened to his father. When the whole story of
the promises etc. was told, Rama understood the
situation very well. He knew that both King Dasaratha
and himself are caught in a situation that demanded
supreme sacrifice. Bharata was not present in
Ayodhya during all these happenings.
Rama was full of praise for Kaikeyi. Rama spoke:
‘O mother, you have bestowed a great honor upon me
by asking for these two promises. Firstly, I agree with
you that Bharata would be a better king than I.
Secondly, what of fourteen years of forest life! Time
will fly with wink of the eyes. But I must be grateful
to you for giving me the opportunity to be close with
the nature. Moreover, I shall personally look after the
conditions of subjects in far off places of our
kingdom. I would be more than happy to redress their
grievances. And most importantly, I shall get the rare
opportunity to submerge myself in spiritual practices
to seek the God. The daily hectic life of the king
otherwise also comes in the way of God realization
and meditation. And last but not the least, to uphold
the word given by the parents is the duty of every son,
even if it puts him to utmost suffering. It is a rare
opportunity offered to anyone to die for the honor of
his father.’
Sita and Lakshmana accompany Rama
Thus Rama genuinely felt nothing at such an arduous
predicament. Everyone present was stunned to listen
to the brave and high thinking of Rama. Respect for
Rama doubled in everyone’s heart. But the daughter of
Janaka - Janaki (Sita), the newly married wife of
Rama, was not be left behind. After seeking
permission from her mother-in-law, she spoke with
dignity and composure to her husband, ‘O Lord, I will
also accompany you to the forest.’
Instantly many objections were raised by Queen
Kausalya, Prime Minister, and Rama himself that for
the newly wedded queen it would not be proper to
leave the comforts of the palace and seek difficult life
of the forest. Moreover, her in-laws needed her care
more than the able-bodied husband. Kaikeyi has not
asked her to accompany her husband.
But Sita was not to be so easily put off. With firm
determination she said to Rama, ‘Please do not deny
me the chance of serving you when you need it most. I
am your shadow; I have taken wedding vows to be
with you in joy and sorrow, in palace or in jungle, in
life and death. I cannot remain alive without you. If
you still insist that I should stay here with your
parents, I declare that I will jump in the river Sarayu
after your departure!’
At last when every effort of persuasion failed, Rama
conceded to the request of Sita, his wife, to
accompany him. And then comes the extreme sacrifice
of a brother for elder brother.
 The way of Sri Rama
M an lives in the graveyards of the past.
Nearly 85% of life’s energy is spent in
the things related to the past that have
no connection with the present context. A
discontinuity with the past is the first step to attain
to the way of Sri Rama.
This is the process of self-management. In the
process of Self Management a total discontinuity
from the past is the prerequisite. When you are
discontinuous from the past only then a new
model can be created for your growth. This is the
only process to create a new man out of you. How
can this happen in practical terms? Let me explain
the methodology.
It looks difficult. It looks almost impossible. You
have lived your life in a certain pattern. This is
why it looks not only difficult instead almost
impossible at times as well. However it only looks
so. In reality it is very simple.
Watch within yourself all the connections. Be a
witness to all those that you are keeping with the
old pattern. And analyze why you are keeping it.
Is it just a habit from the very childhood? You
have been taught certain concepts, ideas, certain
religious ways, cults, and creeds? Or that these
nourish you? Or, on the contrary, are they
depleting your energy levels? Be a witness to all
this. This is the first step. Out of this other steps
will arise?
You just have to see within yourself about each
thing. Look carefully whether it is political,
social, or religious pattern that you have carried
from the past. Or that the past has given to you
through your education system, and through other
means in the society. You just have to see the
reason that you are still holding on to it. This is an
important step in the process of Self Management.
And my experience is that nobody is being
nourished by it. Past never nourishes. All that you
have eaten yesterday cannot nourish you now. So
there is no reason to hold on to it. The moment
you decide to drop never it hesitate a blink. Drop
the bag immediately. Or at least decide to drop.
Almost everybody is sucked by the dead, the old,
and the past. The past and its patterns never allow
you to be new, young, and contemporary. It keeps
pulling you back again and again. It is not
something friendly to you. You have just never
looked at it and seen that you are carrying enemies
within you, parasites within you. And you are
simply carrying them because of old habits,
because they have always been there -- as long as
you can remember they have been there. As long
as you can remember you have been a Christian,
or a Hindu, or a Mohammedan.
It is just a question of habit.
So you have to see exactly what traditions and
past inheritances are doing to you. You have to be
very clear-cut, and then the thing is very simple. If
you see that you are carrying parasites just
because of old habits, that you are nourishing your
own enemies who are destroying your life, your
youth, and your newness -- who are making you
almost dead before death comes -- it won't take
any great effort not to cling to them. You will
simply drop them; there is not much of a question.
It is your decision to keep them or not to keep
them. You will simply drop them.
The moment you see that you are carrying poison,
something destructive, which is going to spoil
everything in your life -- not because I say so; you
have to see it with your own eyes -- then it is so
easy to get rid of the past. And the moment you
are discontinuous with the past, you have immense
freedom to grow.
Suddenly you are fresh and young, free of the
parasites, free of the burden, free of an
unnecessary load, luggage which was nothing but
junk. But you were carrying it because your
fathers, your forefathers, everybody was carrying
it.
It is simply a question of seeing what the past is
doing to you.
Is it a friend or an enemy?
And just the insight will do the work.
I have heard about one patient who was having his
session with the psychoanalyst. The psychoanalyst
had been trying hard for months to convince him
that his whole sickness was imaginary. His
sickness was that he was feeling continuously that
strange creatures were crawling all over his body;
and all the time he was just throwing them off.
And there was nothing.
For months the psychoanalyst was telling him that
there was nothing: "You just look. I don't see
anything -- and you go on throwing off those
strange creatures which are just your imagination."
But the man had no time even to listen. While the
psychoanalyst was talking he was just throwing...
from all over the body.
In this session he was sitting very close to the
psychoanalyst. And as he started throwing off his
strange creatures, the psychoanalyst said, "Wait!
Don't throw them on me!" Because for six months,
trying to convince him, the psychoanalyst himself
had become convinced that there must be
something there -- because this man is intelligent,
he is a professor, and if he goes on throwing off
those things, there must be something there. So he
said, "Wait! You can throw them anywhere else,
but you can't throw them on ME."
The psychoanalyst himself became convinced:
"And I don't want to deal any more with you,
because I have started suspecting, once in a while,
that some strange creature is crawling on me. I
know that it is just imagination, but...."
You have to see that even imagination starts being
active. Seeing certainly is action. You don't have
to do anything after seeing. You see it, and that
very moment you are disconnected from the thing
if it is not nourishing you but torturing you. It is
very simple.
And it is one of the most fundamental things... to
get rid of the whole past, to be absolutely
discontinuous with it. Then you have a simplicity,
a lightness, because there is no load. And you
have a health of mind, of soul -- which was sucked
away, so that you had never had any experience of
it.
You feel new vitality and new blood running
through your veins. And because you are now
discontinuous with the past, you don't have
memories, psychological memories. If you want to
remember, you can remember, but they are no
longer a force on you. They don't have any power
over you so you have to remember them.
Now there are no memories, no connections with
the past. You have only the present, and you have
a vast future. Of course you cannot do anything in
the future, you can only do anything you want to
do in the present. But it goes on: as the future
becomes the present, your growth, your action,
your intelligence, your creativity -- anything that
you are working at -- keeps growing.
And the pleasure of growth is immense.
To be stuck somewhere is one of the most horrible
feelings.
I am here for all that existence wants me to be. Therefore I go on allowing happening all that existence has sent
me for. And whatsoever the existence does not want to happen I will not allow happening. My being is absorbed
in god. This is totality. And this is what, the word ‘god’ means to me. This is flowing in god or cosmic harmony.
And the moment this happened, I became suddenly all - infinite - oceanic... And now sour in infinite sky
effortlessly....

T
his is the way the life of the one who knows
moves. And only such person is the beacon
light or the source of inspiration in the
process of transformation.
You will certainly stumble on the topic. It is a
strange yet interesting one. You may wonder how a
person could be the way to life. Hey! That is where
you are making a mistake.
Sri Rama is not a person alone – a historical one.
Instead he is existential one. And indeed anyone
who is existential becomes the way of life. One who
is existential has experienced his being-ness. Such
a person is never born and never dies. This is
known as eternity and the person is known as
eternal. The way he looked at life, events, and
situations and interacted becomes is the way to
life. Understanding this and living your life
accordingly brings about transformation. This is
what I mean when I said Rama is the way to life.
His entire perspective of life is totally different that
your. And this is the reason he is considered as
ideal one.
There are two ways to live. One is the way of
struggle. The other is the way of surrender.
Struggle is the outcome of ignorance and ego. Such
a person wants his will alone as this is what
matters. The way of surrender implies the
dissolution of individual will in the will of the
whole. The man of surrender has no will of his. He
lives as an instrument to fulfill the will of God. He is
in total harmony with divine will. Struggle brings
tension, and disharmony. Surrender brings
harmony and bliss. The way of Rama is the way of
surrender to the whole.
Sri Rama. The very mention of this name brings to
our mind the image of the Sri Rama who was the
embodiment of all perfection. We must have seen
many persons ideal in their respective fields of
work or in a particular role of human relationships.
Sri Rama was the ideal one in each and every
respect. He was an ideal son, husband, and disciple,
brother, friend and teacher. However his role as a
spiritual teacher is not as well-known as Sri
Krishna’s is through his message of Bhagavad Gita
to Arjuna.
In the Uttarakanda of Adhyatma Ramayana, Sri
Rama is seen in the role of a master who dispels
the ignorance of his most devoted and dear brother
Lakshmana by imparting the knowledge of the Self.
This is known as Sri Rama Gita.
The subject that Sri Rama takes to explain is subtle,
and the exposition by Sri Rama is brief but fully
comprehensive. This text seems to have inspired
even Shankaracharya, as we find many similar
verses in his Atma Bodha. Tulsidas has also given
Sri Rama Gita in the Aranyakanda of his famous
work Sri Ramacaritamanas.
Rama is described as an ideal son, friend, brother,
husband, enemy…. He is the embodiment of
idealism. When I heard this, a question came to
mind, ‘if Rama is the symbol of idealism then what
the criterion of idealism is. Sri Rama must have set
certain criterion for ideal life. This is the first thing
that I will like to explain before going into other
things.
What is the quality of an ideal person? The first and
the foremost quality of such a being is his
emotional maturity. To understand Sri Rama fully
you have to remove the conditioning that Rama is
God and incarnation. With such an understanding
you will create a gap between you and him which
can never be bridged and there will be no
transformation in you. With the gap you will never
try to inculcate even a single quality that makes
Rama the ideal one.
You seem to be interested singing a few songs of
praise, model in your elegant apparels of latest
design, and thus nourish your ego. Have you
observed that, spending huge sums during such
religious ceremonies indeed brought any change in
the inner frame of mind or awareness? Has
involvement in such actions changed your
understanding? Are you a transformed person with
this yajna? If not you have to understand there is
something basically wrong.
Idealism comes with emotional maturity. And with
this there is the understanding of each relationship.
Also there is a way to relate. We tend to give too
much importance to relationships rather to the
way of relating. Relating is the outcome of
meditation. When someone attains to meditation
he learns the art of relating.
Relationship is indeed the mirror of one’s inward
growth. Relating is the meditative way of living.
You see people around you, claiming to be
meditators but when you look into their lives there
is no bliss overflowing either through their living
or through their words. This is a sad plight. Hardly
ever you really see someone who is emotionally
mature.
When you begin to relate or enter into any
relationship there always remains the fear of
commitment. It is because of this that all problems
arise in life. You find yourself incapable of making
decisions. Remember it is only through decisions
that you attain to consciousness. Also when you
take the responsibility of your decisions and stand
by these that you become more and more
conscious. In this process you attain to
crystallization. This brings sharpness and maturity
as well. In the absence you remain dull.
When you look around you will observe people
moving from one master to another, also people
move from one temple to another. This does not
mean that these persons are real seekers. It is so
because such persons are incapable of making
decisions. And this is the way to avoid
commitment.
Something like this happens when it comes to
human relationships. You go on moving from one
person to another. And you think that you are
really a great lover. This simply indicates that you
are not a lover indeed. In fact you are really
avoiding any deep commitment. What really
happens with commitment is that there comes
deep involvement, and also the problems relating
to this. In this process you have to face problems
and also the pain associated with it. So you try to
play safe. And this you do by not going deep into
with anyone. There remains a fear that if you go
deep you may not be able to come out of the
relationship.
Whatever be the nature of relationship, be it
worldly or beyond you never go deeper into the
relationship. You want to remain on the surface. On
the surface you only see the duality, the
superfluous. You can stand on the sea shore and
say that you have seen the ocean. On the surface
you only see the waves. The wave neither is the
ocean nor is the sum total of all waves ocean.
Waves arise on the surface of the ocean. Waves are
multiple and the ocean is one. In order to know
truth you have to dive deep into the womb of the
ocean. There lie the treasures. So too on the surface
of the relationship you only see the superfluous. To
discover Truth you have to dive deep into the
relationship.
Your fear of commitment, problems, hurt etc., will
keep you away from going deeper into any
relationship and thus discovering the inner
treasure of serenity, bliss, ecstasy, and oneness. All
that keeps you away from going deeper is EGO.
Such an experience is that what you call as God
Realization or Self Realization. In fact it is wrong to
call it a relationship or experience. But mystics are
always in difficulty. What they actually want to
communicate is beyond words. And words are
incapable to encompass all that is. Because all that
is, is really magnanimous. Beyond words! Hindus
call this as ANHAT NAAD - THE UNCREATED.
If you go deep into any relations then there is the
fear that you may not come back. And if you go
deep into somebody, then that person will also go
deeper into you. Such phenomena are
proportionate. Because if I go really deep into you
this is the way that allows you to go deep into me.
It is a sharing. The fear remains that this can
entangle you. And will certainly entangle you. This
brings pain. So you want to play safe. This you do
by meeting on the surface only. All your so called
relationships are superfluous and remain on the
surface. Husband and wives may remain for a long
time together- 50-60 years together. And they say
there is too much love. But in reality it is not love.
What actually happens when too people stay
together for some time there happens
TOGETHERNESS. And this is mistaken for LOVE.
Love is the shadow of meditation. When meditation
happens there comes the experience of inner
oneness. And as the fragrance of meditation Love
springs forth. Such phenomena are rarely seen.
What you really see around are meetings of two
bodies not the souls. Such are hit and run love
affairs. You tend to run before you are caught.
However this is not the case with Sri Rama as you
have heard through various discourses. And this is
the reason Rama is considered as the Embodiment
of idealism in every aspect, situation that life has
created for him.
However what you see around is people acting so
juvenile, and childish that they are losing all sense
of maturity. By maturity I do not mean physical
maturity. I mean inner or spiritual maturity.
Maturity comes only when you are ready to face
the pain of your being.
Maturity comes when you are ready to face the
challenge. And remember there is no greater
challenge than love. Remember to live happily with
another person is the greatest challenge in the
world. You can live peacefully alone. It is very easy.
However, it is very difficult to live peacefully,
joyfully and meditatively with another person.
More so when someone else is your wife or
husband it becomes almost impossible. What
happens then is that now two ego collide, two
worlds collide. It is also the explosion of two
differently understood worlds. Then how can the
two opposite poles meet? How can the two be
attracted to one another? They are totally different,
almost opposite, polar opposites. Then the meeting
happens only on the surface and there is no
question of the merger of two worlds, two egos.
Two worlds, two souls can merge only when the
egos dissolve.
Therefore it is very difficult to be peaceful and
loving in a relationship, because that is the
challenge. And if you escape from that, you escape
from maturity. If you go into it with all the pain,
agony, and all that a relationship brings and still
continue delving deeper and deeper into it, and
then by and by the pain becomes a blessing, the
conflict becomes a synergistic harmony. And then
by and by, through the conflict, and friction,
crystallization happens. Through the struggle you
become more alert, more aware.
The other becomes like a mirror to you. You can
see your ugliness in the other. The other provokes
your unconscious, brings it to the surface. And
when you are aware then you continue to grow in
maturity. And what then happens... no words can
encompass the magnanimity of it. It is like a dumb
has now tasted the sweet fruit. He cannot describe
the taste. Only through silent gestures he can speak
of the inner happening.
You can only come to know all hidden parts of your
being through the mirror of relationship. These are
to be mirrored, reflected, in a relationship. This I
call easier, because there is no other way — but it
is hard. It is hard, arduous, because you will have to
change through it. And when you break the mirror
how can there be the reflection of the hidden parts
of your being, your ugliness, your ego, etc. And
when these are not reflected there is no way to
improve or let the inner beauty to manifest.
So too when you come to a Master there comes an
even greater challenge before you. Because then
you have to decide quickly. The problem is greater
because you have to choose the unknown, and
unknowable. Also your decision has to be total and
absolute. This is not a child's game. And once you
have made a decision there is no return. This
brings so much conflict. So the easiest way is not to
go on changing continuously. This is the way to
avoid yourself. And you will remain soft, babyish.
And maturity will not happen to you. Only the
unknown and the unknowable should have a call
for you because that you have not yet lived; you
have not moved in that territory. Move! Something
new will definitely happen then only your silent
gestures.....!
Therefore, O fool always go for the unknown,
whatsoever be the risk, whatsoever be the
outcome, and you will grow continuously. But in all
circumstances you go on choosing the known and
then you move in a continuous circle with the past
again and again coming to the surface. You go on
repeating it. And in this process you have become a
CD that is moving in a repeat mode. So think
through it. And decide. The sooner you can do so,
the better. Postponement is really stupid.
Tomorrow you will also have to decide, so why not
now? And now is the precise moment. And you
think that tomorrow you will be wiser than today?
Do you think that tomorrow you will be livelier
than today? Do you think that tomorrow you will
be younger than today or fresher than today? Will
tomorrow ever come????
Firstly tomorrow never comes. And tomorrow you
will be older, you will be less courageous. Also
there will be depletion of energy. But you go on
thinking that tomorrow you will be more
experienced, more cunning. As time move you are
coming closer to death. The wheel of time is
moving. And soon frigid claws of death will
descend and seal your humble fete. Then you
shan't have time to mend. And you will start
wavering with more fear. Never postpone for the
tomorrow. And who knows? Tomorrow may come
or may not come. If you have to decide you have to
decide right now. Because, transformation can only
happen now and here!
In Indian classical music this is an established fact.
If you place a sitar, musical instrument, in the
corner of an empty room, and on the other side of
the room, and just facing this sitar let an
established musician play his sitar. You will be
surprised that the strings of the other sitar in the
corner will begin to vibrate the same tune. This is
synchronicity. When the maestro plays his
instrument the vibes begin to move in the
emptiness of the room. It is like throwing a stone in
a silent lake. As the stone is thrown in the silent
lake waves arise and cover the entire surface of the
lake thus far reaching to the shore. So too the vibes
created by the musical instrument begin to vibrate
the strings of the instrument. For this, the master
has to be really a very refined musician. The strings
of other sitar can vibrate only if there is a very
delicate touch.
It actually happened in the times of an Indian
Moughal emperor Akbar. He heard of this so he
enquired from his master musician Tansen. Tansen
said though I am a great musician. Yet still this is
beyond me. However my master Haridas can do
this. He is a master so he will not come to your
court even you offer him the entire wealth. He lives
in a nearby hut just on the other side of your
palace. He is really his own master, not only that of
music. This is the reason that I have never
mentioned of him. I sing, i play the music because I
am full of desires and expectations. Haridas will
not come to your court. Only beggars like me will
come to your court. In the eyes of the world he is a
beggar. But the emperor was interested in listening
to the master.
It was then arranged for the emperor to visit the
master. Tansen asked him to carry a sitar. Together
they reached the master at three in the morning. It
was exactly at that time the master used to play his
instrument. So Tansen asked the emperor to hide
outside the hut. It was exactly at that time master
Haridas started playing his musical instrument.
The emperor Akbar was surprised to observe that
the instrument he was carrying began to vibrate
the same tune. It was as if his silent instrument was
replying the tune played the master. Also it
appeared as if the invisible hands of the master
were playing the two instruments simultaneously.
Akbar began to cry. Tears trickled down his eyes
out of joy. Steadily they went back to the palace.
Both of them remained silent whole day.
Something like this happens between a master and
a disciple who is on the borderline. Know this as
synchronicity. This existed between Sri Rama and
Lakshmana; Sri Rama and Bharata; Sri Rama and
Shatrughana; and Sri Rama and Hanuman. Sri
Rama’s idealism is the outcome of his own self-
realization, emotional maturity and inner harmony.
And his way of relating with people of diverse
mental framework and consciousness is the
outcome of the experience of Truth, and living the
experience of this inner oneness and harmony.
Sri Rama the way of life.
 The way to reach the abode of Sri Rama
In the process of transformation certain things are
essential. Sincerity, inner oneness and honesty are
essential but these need not unnecessarily hurt others.
These should evolve as a natural process instead being
imposed from outside. This requires the understanding
of human nature. Every moment Sri Rama exhibits this.
And this is the reason he is considered as the symbol of
idealism.
The first thing to be understood: you have to be
authentic to yourself -- sincere, and honest. But that
does not mean that you have to hurt others through
your honesty and sincerity, that does not mean that you
have to disturb others, that does not mean that you have
to disturb the rules of the game.
All relationships are just rules of the game. And many
times you will have to act and wear masks, false faces.
The only thing that is to remember is: never become
the masks. Use it if it is good, and keep the rules. But
never become the mask. Never get identified. Act it,
and live the relationship does not get identified with it.
This is a great problem, particularly in the West and for
the new generation. They have heard too much. Also
they have already been seduced by this idea. This
requires being sincere and being honest. This is good,
but you do not know how cunning and destructive the
mind is.
Your mind can find excuses. You can say a truth, not
because you love truth so much but just to hurt
somebody; you can use it as a weapon. And if you are
using it as a weapon it is not truth, it is worse than a lie.
Sometimes you can help somebody through a lie, and
sometimes relationship becomes easier through a lie.
Then use it - but never get identified with it. What I am
saying is: Be a good player, learn the rules of the game.
Never be too adamant about anything. This is
psychological jargon. If we cannot see the psychology
in the understanding of Sri Rama that creates the model
for human life there is no way to call ourselves
religions. Religiousness does not mean going to
temple modeling best clothes offering large donations.
All these things are secondary and meaningless if we
do not have the understanding of Sri Rama. Indeed
only that person is religious who exhibits the slight
trace of the understanding of Sri Rama. Start the
journey somewhere. Choose one aspect of his life. Go
deep into it. This will bring greater awareness in you.
Such understanding is more sacred and sublime than
walking through the aisles of the society in the garb of
a religious one with false masks.
The one thing has to be remembered. Life is a great
complexity. You are not alone here, there are many
others related to you. Be sincere unto yourself, never
be false there. Know well what you want, and for
yourself remain that. But there are others also. Never
unnecessarily hurt them. And if you need to wear
masks, wear them and enjoy them, but remember, they
are not your original face, and be capable of taking
them off any moment. Remain the master, and never
become the slave; otherwise you can be violent through
your sincerity. And then this violence will become way
of your life.
I have seen persons who are cruel, violent, aggressive,
sadistic - but sincere, very true, authentic. But they are
using their authenticity just for their sadism. They want
to make others suffer, and their trick is such that you
cannot escape them. They are true, so you cannot say,
‘You are bad.’ They are good people, they are never
bad, and so no one can say to them, ‘You are bad.’
They are always good, and they do the bad through
their good.
Never do that. Also never take life too seriously.
Nothing is wrong in masks also, faces also. Just as in
the drama on the stage they use faces and enjoy and the
audience also enjoys, why not enjoy them in real life
also? It is not more than a drama. But I am not saying
for you to be dishonest. Be sincere with yourself, and
do not get identified. But life is great; there are many
around you related in many invisible ways. Never hurt
anybody.
This Sri Ram exhibited through his life as ideal son,
brother, husband, friend, and enemy.
 Introduction to Commentary on Sri Rama Gita
by Taoshobuddha
T
his entire science of Reality, along with the
techniques of realization or sadhanas,
forming the essence of the Upanishads, is
sung by Me as SRI RAM GITA. Now the ‘quarter’
that is to be realized only through the
Upanishadic declarations. He who with firm
devotion to his teacher with ardent faith merely
reads or hears this Rama Gita, he, too, can reach
My form – if he has faith in My words.
No conditioning, situation, or being can entrap the
enlightened one again. He has awakened to the
state of the Self. He lives in a realm beyond the
sense perception of body; emotions of the mind;
and the thinking of the intellect. Thus he lives
blessing the world with his pure holiness, even if
he is not ‘doing’ anything. His mere presence is an
inspiration to the rest of humanity.
If he is thus liberated from all equipment, why are
the equipment not falling away dead, when their
owner, the ego, has been liberated? The answer is
that the force of its prarabdha karma keeps the
body alive. The body is the product of our own
karma or vasanas, and it is also a product of the
karmas of others. One can redeem oneself of all
one’s own karmas, but the body still lives and
functions, because of samasti karma or the
Preface to Commentary on Sri Ram Gita
by Taoshobuddha
Sri Rama Gita is a unique text. Since the pure-
hearted Lakshmana is the listener and Sri Rama
himself the teacher, the explanation soars to vivid
heights of subtlety.
In short, this is no elementary text. Indeed, it is an
advanced text - a spiritual text given out only to a
sincere and spiritually inclined aspirant.
karmas of others. This macrocosmic vasana or
tendencies is the equipment of the Lord or
Isvara.
Thus, the Enlightened One functions under the
Lord’s will only. Without any sense of ‘I-do’
ahankara and any attachment asakti, he appears
to be functioning in the world, himself ever living
the experience of the infinite Self, Sri Rama.
Once his share of destiny is exhausted, he merges
into Brahman. This state is called videha-mukti.
Even earlier, when others were considering him
as a member of the community, he was already a
liberated person jivan-mukti.
Whoever can reflect upon the meaning of
these sutras and contemplate upon their
significance, if he has cultivated deep devotion
to the guru, and also the ability to
intellectually gain an understanding of the
subtle impact of these verses sraddhavan,
even if he only reads or hears this Gita, he too,
can gain ‘My form divine.’ Rama-form here is
identical with the nature of the Self (Atma-
svarupa).
Lakshmana like students alone can comprehend
the truths expounded herein. Through these
pages I am bringing such a subtle text for the
benefit of an aspirant.
In line with the spirit of the origin of the Gita, any
scripture or literary work which takes a
philosophical and deeper view of things and
becomes an advice at a crucial moment, is also
called a Gita in a symbolic way. This is how we
call Rama’s advice to Bharata and Lakshmana as
Rama-Gita.
Sri Rama - the name brings to our mind the image
of the Sri Rama as the embodiment of all idealism.
The expression sends quivers and a joy of a
different kind to us. We come across quite often
person who is ideal in his respective field of work
or as his role in understanding and performing
human relationships. Sri Rama was the perfect
ideal in each and every respect. He was an ideal
son, husband, and disciple, ideal brother, friend
and even an ideal enemy. However his role as a
spiritual teacher is not as well-known as Sri
Krishna’s through his message of Bhagavad Gita
addressed to Arjuna.
Sri Rama Gita forms the part of Uttarakanda of
Adhyatma Ramayana . We meet Sri Rama in the
role of an ideal teacher dispelling the ignorance of
his most devoted and dear brother Lakshmana by
imparting the knowledge of the Self.
The subject is subtle, and the exposition by Sri
Rama is brief but fully comprehensive. This text
seems to have inspired even Sankaracharya, as
we find many similar verses in his Atma Bodha.
Tulsidas has also given Sri Rama Gita in the
Aranyakanda of his famous work Sri Rama
Charita Manas. His source of inspiration is this
Gita alone.
Through this work I have tried to provide insights
into the sutras of Sri Rama Gita, revealing the
deep significance of each sutra in an effective and
enchanting manner. The entire message of Sri
Rama is an exposition of Vedanta philosophy and
expresses the essence of the Upanishads.
Sri Ram Gita happens two times. The first is the
message to Bharata. It was after King Dashratha
had died and on returning Bharata came to know
of the exile of Sri Rama, Death of King, and the
cause behind all this he was filled with rage.
Somehow the rites were performed and Bharata
along with the Guru and the mothers comes to the
forest to pursue Rama to return to Ayodhya. It
was at that time Sri Rama gives the teachings to
Bharata which is known as Sri Rama Gita.
The next time Sri Rama Gita appears when after
Sri Rama had abandoned the queen Sita
Lakshmana is saddened and is confused.
Therefore to dispel this Sri Rama explains the
essence of Upanishads to Lakshmana as Sri
Rama Gita.
Through these pages I have chosen the sutras
from the message to Lakshmana as Sri Rama
Gita as the subject matter.
This entire science of Reality, along with the
techniques of realization or sadhanas, forming
the essence of the Upanishads, is sung by Me as
SRI RAM GITA. Now the ‘quarter’ that is to be
realized only through the Upanishadic
declarations. He who with firm devotion to his
teacher with ardent faith merely reads or hears
this Rama Gita, he, too, can reach My form – if he
has faith in My words.
Whoever can reflect upon the meaning of
these sutras and contemplate upon their
significance, if he has cultivated deep devotion
to the guru, and also the ability to
intellectually gain an understanding of the
subtle impact of these verses sraddhavan,
even if he only reads or hears this Gita, he too,
can gain ‘My form divine.’ Rama-form here is
identical with the nature of the Self (Atma-
svarupa).
 The Enlightened One functions under the Lord’s will only. Without any sense of ‘I-do’ ahankara and any attachment or
asakti, he appears to be functioning in the world, himself ever living the experience of the infinite Self, Sri Rama.
A
dhyatma Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit
work that extols the spiritual virtues of the
story of Ramayana. It comprises around 4200
verses embedded in Brahmanda Purana and is
considered to be authored by Ved Vyasa.
Literally meaning 'Spiritual Ramayana', Adhyatma
Ramayana is a poem spread across 4200 double
verses, and considered a treatise of Vedantic
philosophy. It is supposed to have provided Tulsidas
(1511-1637 AD), the inspiration to write his seminal
work Ram Charit Manas. It also inspired several later
versions of the story of Rama like in Oriya, Bengali
and Malayalam.
Traditionally it is believed that Adhyathma
Ramayana was narrated by Shiva to Parvati. The
sacred verses are an extract from the latter portion of
the Brahmanda Purana composed by the great Veda
Vyasa. The verses are a dialogue betweenShankara
(another name of Shiva) and goddess and universal
mother Parvati.
Thus the story was recited to the universal mother
Parvati by the Shankara. This religious book contains
the ideal characteristics of Rama, the precept related to
devotion, knowledge, dispassion, adoration and good
conduct. The main context of the book based on
spiritual and metaphysical knowledge.
On my own authority I say that mere reading of or
listening to these verses enables one to attain self-
realization.
Adhyatma Ramayana represents the story of Rama in
a spiritual context, in this version everything is
preordained, and Rama being the Brahman himself,
does not kill or destroy, rather offers salvation to those
he kills, thus this act is called, ‘Uddhar.’
Rama, Lakshmana and Sita
It also provides several valuable insights into the
various seeming anomalies in the popular versions of
Ramayana, like: The provocation of the Queen
Kaikeyi by her maid Manthara, was not an evil act of
her choice as presented in the Valmiki’s version of
Ramayana. Instead it was mastered by the goddess of
knowledge, Saraswati, thus Manthara appears only to
be playing her character in the larger drama of destiny,
which lead to the killing of Ravana, the sole reason
Lord Vishnu had incarnated as Rama.
Similarly, according to the text, real Sita was never
really abducted by Ravana. Rama being the all-
knower has premonition about the abduction.
Therefore he tells Sita that the time has come when
we have to perform our roles for which we have
assumed the human form. And thus instructs Sita to
invoke Agni, the God of Fire and ask him to create an
illusionary self, or Maya Sita. The real Sita went
under the care of Agni and in place Maya Sita was
created. Thus Ravana abducted the illusionary Sita.
And later once Ravana was killed original Sita was
regained from Agni Dev through a fire ritual.
It makes us aware of the larger than life aspects of
Ram and the fact he being the Brahman or Supreme
Creator incarnate, acts to instruct. Adhyatma
Ramayana raises every mundane activity of Rama, to
a spiritual or transcendent level, thus instructing the
seeker to view his own life through the symbolic
vision for his soul, where the external life is but a
metaphor for eternal journey of the soul.
The text is aimed to be used as guide and ready source
of instruction for a spiritual seeker as it presents
Ramayana as a divine allegory, where an exiled king,
a man out of his elements, gets beguiled by the lure of
maya or the illusions, - maya mrigya, hence loses his
Beloved - Sita, to the demon or dark forces Ravana.
Later when he repents and asks for divine grace, he is
given the strength and friends like Hanuman to help
him reclaim his divinity – as his Beloved.
 Dialogue between Rama and Kaikeyi
The provocation of the Queen Kaikeyi by her maid Manthara, was not an evil act of her choice as
presented in the Valmiki’s version of Ramayana. Instead it was mastered by the goddess of knowledge,
Saraswati, thus Manthara appears only to be playing her character in the larger drama of destiny,
which lead to the killing of Ravana, the sole reason Lord Vishnu had incarnated as Rama.

In short, it is no use employing our minds in fields which are contrary to our nature. Everyone has a
precise place in the scheme of created things. Even a blade of grass has significance in the scheme of the
existence. Each one has his own importance and none is to be despised, for, each can do something
which the others cannot do so well. There is no redundancy in the Lord’s creation; not even a single
blade of grass, anywhere, at any time, is unnecessarily created! Everything has a purpose. Not only the
good but the bad also are His manifestations and serve His purpose.

The Pandavas’ glory is, no doubt, great, but the manifestation of the wickedness in the Kauravas is also
the glory of His creation. Without the latter, the history of the former would not have been complete.
Nothing is to be condemned; none to be despised. Everything is He. And He alone IS.

Ravana, if not the chief is the most important character of Ramayana. Without him Ramayana is
meaningless. It is because of Ravana, and also because of the salvation of Ravana, Ahilya, Shabri, and to
set the trends of righteousness Vishnu assumes the human form as the son of King Dasaratha.

What is going to happen is determined by accumulated individual actions and the totality of all actions.
Actions are preceded by thoughts. For the process of transformation these accumulated actions must
dissolve. Actions therefore are like dried leaves on the tree of consciousness that are no more needed.
Just as when the leaves turn gold their role in the life of the tree in that form is not needed. Thus they fall
and in place new leaves appear. However the leaves that have fallen from the tree provide nourishment
to the tree. We all know this. Thoughts, actions and their dissolution are part of the process of
transformation.

Before I proceed further it is important to explain one more thing. The beings can be classified into three
categories: enlightened, ignorant and those in whom the seed of consciousness has started sprouting. The
enlightened one is rare. He is the salt of humanity. Without them the humanity will remain dwarf and
decay. The ignorant is the one in whom the process has not yet begun. They are at the lowest rung of the
process of transformation. Such beings exist in large numbers. The last category is of those in whom the
process of transformation has begun. These people swing between these two extremes according to
circumstances and situations.

The enlightened ones can see beyond time and space. They do not judge any one. They know everything
has a purpose and everyone has a role to perform. They enter into any action, role etc., with total
awareness without any involvement. And none of the actions bind him. Such is not the case with the
other two categories. Their thinking and actions accumulate and create bondages for the cycle of birth
and death.

The majority of the people who read the scriptures belong to these two later categories. And in most of
the cases even those who narrate also belong to the same category. Rarely the enlightened one speaks.
He waits for the right person who is on the borderline. These scriptures are composed by the enlightened
ones. And therefore cannot be understood through your level of understanding. This creates
misconception.

In the epic Ramayana the forces are divided as divine and demonic. None wants to see the scripture
without any prejudice. As I have said earlier without Ravana there was no need for Vishnu to take
human form. And without this the curse inflicted upon Ahilya could not be removed. The promise of
sage Matanga to his disciple Shabri could not be fulfilled. All these events are part of one greater
scheme or sequence.

If Kaikeyi was not instigated by Manthara to seek the exile for Rama the curse inflicted on Dasaratha by
the blind parents of Sharavana Kumara would remain unfulfilled and so was his salvation. Without
Ram’s exile the purpose of Vishnu assuming human form was not possible. Your problem is that you
cannot see beyond time and space. And you see the events in isolations not as part of the totality.

The very purpose of these scriptures is to prepare you for a life beyond time and space so that the
process of evolution may continue and the seed of consciousness blossoms in you. It is in this light we
need to understand these scriptures. And it is in the light of this awareness look at various characters and
their role in the scheme of the existence.

When you look at Ravana he is very intelligent, profound scholar, proficient in Sanskrit language, and
other scriptures. He composed Shiva Tandava Strotam in a state of extreme agony when his whole arm
was crushed under the weight of the mount Kailash. Spontaneously Ravana composes Shiva Tandava
Strotam as prayer to please Shiva. Whatever he composed is profound and even today no alteration
could be made in the musically composed Strotam. Ravana also composed Ravana Samhita a treatise
for the kingdom. All these are impossible without awareness. Ravana was enlightened who assumed
human form only for one moment of lapse in his awareness. He has to exhibit utmost enmity with the
Lord as that was the only way for salvation and return to the abode of Vishnu.

Kaikeyi is the instrument of awareness too. Such a person acts according to totality of understanding
beyond his or her will. To such a person fulfillment of divine will is all that matters and works without
worrying about what others say. She was an excellent charioteer as a result she accompanied the king in
the battles. Once there was a battle between Ravana and King Dasaratha. In that battle Kaikeyi drove the
charioteer. Dasaratha got badly wounded in the hands of Ravana and was unable to continue the war. He
was sure to be defeated in the hands of Ravana. Kaikeyi realizing the situation drove the chariot
skillfully and reached the safe place where she took care of the wounded king.

Ravana made mockery of the king. Hearing which Kaikeyi pledged to be the cause of the death of
Ravana. Hearing this Ravana laughed hilariously and further mocked Dasaratha and Kaikeyi together.
Kaikeyi became resolute to be the cause of Ravana’s destruction. So when Dasaratha had the four sons it
was Kaikeyi who started training Rama in archery and other war tactics. She was even instrument
behind Rama going with sage Vishvamitra to protect his yajna. This laid the foundation of the work
Rama has assumed human form.

All those who have written on the story of Rama have realized the significance of Kaikeyi. But those
who talk and follow the scripture despise these characters as negative. In the process they forget that
negative and positive are two sides of the same coin. Just as two legs are needed for walking, two wings
are needed for flying so too these dualistic are very essential. In the process both support one another.
Just as unless positive and negative currents neutralize one another there will be no illumination. So too
togetherness of the opposing forces is essential. Without this there is no possibility of going beyond.
Going beyond is transcendence.

Tulsidas, the composer of the portrayal of Sri Ram as Ram Charit Manas, is enlightened master. His
poetic genius is unique. I have seen the original script of Tulsi Das when in 1953 when I visited the
place accompanied by my grandfather Sufi master Brij Mohan Lal. We were given the original script
for our viewing which is not done with other visitors. We were given the script because of the aura that
Sufi Brij Mohan Lal had around him. For your sake I give the image of the original script:

Original script of TulsiDas at the temple in his birthplace Rajepur, Banda, India

BalKand is the first section of the scripture that contains the birth and the early life of Sri Rama. The
following is the last composition. Balkand is followed by Ayodhyakand. From here the life begins in
Ayodhya and many dramatic events of the exile of Rama, death of Dasaratha, abandonment of Kaikeyi
by Bharata, Lakshmana and Sita accompanying to the forest and the host of other events.

At the end of Balkand Rama returns to city along with his bride Sita and those of his rest of the brothers.
The poetic genius of Tulsidas signifies this change from first section to the second by just changing the
structure of the composition of the two lines. Through this slight change in the composition he has
indicated the events that were about to happen since the sons returned along with their brides to
Ayodhya.
The meaning of the two lines is the same. The lines meant – since Rama returned home after marriage
there are joy of many dimensions. Every day is celebration. The first line is at the end of the first section
while the second line if from the beginning of the next section – Ayodhyakand.

The following composition is from the second section – Ayodhya Kand and the first line has a changed
composition. However this change in composition does not change the meaning of the line. Certainly
Tulsidas has indicated the changing future events with this change.

These are the fine nuances that Tulsidas has brought with his genius and understanding. Remember
Tulsidas is not educated or has any university degree or expert or scholar in Ramayana. He is simply
illiterate. But certainly has the realization which even the most scholarly present day geniuses do not
have.
Now I take you one of the important dialogues from the epic between Rama and Kaikeyi. These are the
mystical insights and not the part of regular word to word meaning.
Without any hesitation Kaikeyi explains the entire story to Rama. She speaks of the agony, disgrace and
pain inflicted upon the king in the hands of Ravana. While narrating, her tone filled with emotions at
times spoke harshly full of rage. As Kaikeyi finished Rama spoke softly addressing her as ‘Janani’ or
mother. There is slight difference in the expression and the intention of Sri Rama in addressing Kaikeyi
this way. Tulsidas being a mystic felt this therefore expressed this in the through the choice of words.
One aspect of the mother is the one who conceives the child and finally gives the birth. This aspect of
motherhood we all know. There is another aspect of motherhood wherein the mother trains, brings up
and thus prepares the child for a greater role. This is another aspect of mother’s role. Rama is addressing
Kaikeyi as ‘Mother’ in this role.

In Rama Kaikeyi saw the potentiality of destroying the demons and thus restore the somewhat lost pride
of the dynasty. She was very much aware of the entire sequence of events beyond time and space. She
knew the purpose of the life of Rama. She loves Rama the most. From the childhood she groomed Rama
for the future events. Initial training of archery and warfare she taught to Rama. For all these reasons
Rama addresses her as his mother although she was his stepmother. Rama, addressing her says:

‘Listen! O mother that son alone is blessed who devotes his life for the cause and the words of his both
parents. A son who gratifies both father and the mother through his actions is indeed rare.’ Both parents
though bound by one common bond are two separate individuals with different minds and approaches to
life. Therefore pleasing two such persons is rare indeed.
This was even confirmed by Kausalya. She was unaware that the King has given the kingdom of forest
to Rama and rule of Ayodhya to Bharata. She tells Rama, in this case considering the status of the
mother to be greater than the father I ask you not to go to the forest. However if both father and the
mother have asked you to go then forest is equivalent to a thousand Avadha of the kingdom of Ayodhya.

On the eve of coronation of Rama as the Prince Designate the arrangements were made for the morning
ceremony. All around there was the environment of gaiety and celebration. Amidst all this there was
restlessness in Rama. This is not the purpose of his human form, Rama thought. ‘Who to resort to for a
solution to this’ the name of Kaikeyi came. Thus Rama goes to the palace of Kaikeyi and explains the
predicament. Kaikeyi listens to the entire predicament and assures Rama not to worry instead go to his
palace she will take care of the entire situation. However, she said, after this humanity will despise her.

Such is the role of the man of awareness. For him fulfillment of divine will is all that matters. He does
not care about the opinions of others. Only a man who is beyond duality can indeed understand the role
of Kaikeyi.

One who despises Kaikeyi is far away from truth

One who consider each individual not a divine instrument
And continues to live the life of duality
Indeed is far away from truth.
He cannot understand the essence of the epic Ramayana.