INTERVIEW

NDM:  Alan, can you please answer these two questions that were submitted by Stuart Sovatsky, PHD

Question 1. Vedanta, Taoism, Buddhism, Judeo-Christian Gnosticism, Mystical Sufism, all laud sexual transcendence of duality and desire verified by transcendence of sex, from Buddha to Dalai Lama and millions of others in India over the millenniums. Has modern non-dualism created something new where sex and desire are not transcended?

Alan Jacobs: The recent great Advaita Vedanta Sage Sri Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, my own Sat Guru, has had tremendous influence on attitudes to this question. In a well circulated answer to a question by the famed W.Y. Evan Wentz, author and translator of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, on the 24th January 1935, Evan Wentz asked :-

' Is not brahmacharya (celibacy) necessary for realisation of the Self?' [Talks With Sri Ramana Maharshi].  

The Maharshi replied as follows ' Brahmacharya is 'living in Brahman'. 'It has no connection with celibacy as commonly understood.

A real Brahmachari, that is one who lives in Brahman, finds bliss in the Brahman which is the same as the Self. Why then should you look for other sources of happiness? In fact the emergence from the Self has been the cause of all the misery.

Wentz: ' Celibacy is a sine qua non for Yoga?' Maharshi:' So it is, Celibacy is certainly an aid to Realisation among so many other aids.

Wentz: Is it not then indispensable? Can a married man Realise the Self?'

Maharshi ' Certainly, it is a matter of fitness of the mind. Married or unmarried, a man can Realise the Self, because that is here and now. If it were not so, but attainable by some efforts at some other time, and it were new and something to be acquired, it would not be worthy of pursuit. Because what is not natural cannot be permanent either. But what I say is that the Self is here and now and alone.'

This definite pronouncement settled the whole question for his Devotees, and many of his followers who were married, consequently became Self Realised under his guidance. This point of view quickly became current amongst all modern Hindu and Advaita Teachers so that in this widely current form of modern Non Dualism, sex and desire are not regarded as obstacles to Self Realisation. To what degree this has affected Sufism, Kabbalah, Gnostic Christianity and Buddhism I cannot say, but the Maharshi as a very great and highly important World Guru has made it perfectly plain that sexual desire is not a hindrance. I believe his pronouncement has become well known and circulated to other Non Dual Traditions. He has tremendous authority in such matters.

Ramana did say that celibacy was an aid. This is because it has been widely accepted in religious traditions that not 'spilling the seed' in any form adds to spiritual strength because the ojas or seminal fluid is held in the body. This superstition may appeal to some spiritual aspirants in the different mystical traditions, but it is certainly not a necessity, as the Maharshi affirms. Some forms of modern day Tantric Practice have sexual relations without ejaculation, but not all.

Question 2. Is this a higher state than what Buddha and founder of advaita, Adi Shankara, taught to monks and lay people and lived personally?

Alan Jacobs: In my opinion, as a Devotee of the great Ramana Maharshi, I would say that this earlier point of view has been transcended by his great authority both in theory and practice.

NDM: Would you mind please answering these follow up questions?

When Sri Ramana was asked how long should enquiry be practised? What is non-attachment? He answered.

Sri Ramana: As long as there are vishaya vasanas (subtle tendencies of the mind in relation to objects of sense-gratification) in the mind, the enquiry 'Who am I?' is necessary. As and when thoughts arise, one should, then and there, annihilate them all through self-enquiry in the very place of their origin. Not giving attention to anything other than oneself is non-attachment or desirelessness; not leaving the Self is jnana [true knowledge]. In truth, these two [non-attachment and desirelessness] are one and the same. Just as a pearl diver, tying a stone to his waist, dives into the sea and takes the pearl lying on the bottom, so everyone, diving deeply within himself in a detached way can obtain the pearl of the Self. If one resorts uninterruptedly to remembrance of one's real nature until one attains the Self, that alone will be sufficient. As long as there are enemies within the fort, they will continue to come out. If one continues to cut all of them down as and when they emerge, the fort will fall into our hands.

Is he not saying to keep practising until one has rendered the "vishaya vasanas" non binding, and to continue to cut them down as they arise, not to act out on them?

Alan Jacobs:  Yes that is my understanding. He gave many many suggestions on Self Enquiry to be found in His Talks. The main thrust was that one should continue the atma vichara until all the latent vasanas were removed and then the Spiritual heart would open and the Self Realsiation take place.

NDM:  If someone is still acting out on adharmic vasanasa for example, would this indicate there is no true moksha there? No legitimate self-realisation, or just a very shallow, shaky or phony one at best?

Alan Jacobs: Not necessarily as benign vasanas may continue after Moksha such as the Buddhi or intellectual discriminative factor. Only the malign vasanas from the egotistic mind need to be removed as they veil the Real Self. These are generally Adharmic.

NDM:  Did Sri Ramana say that there are stages to moksha or speak about anything like this or map out any markers, or signs, indications to look out for the way that Ramakrishna did with attachment to"woman and gold"?

Alan Jacobs: Bhagavan did not believe there were stages to Moksha or advocate any , he saw Realisation as a sudden event consequent on the practices of intense Self Enquiry and Devotional Surrender.

NDM: Question: Did Ramana also practice or attain nirvikalpa samadhi (in a cave) after his teenage Self  Realisation?  If so, why did he practice this if his intense self enquiry was enough?

Alan Jacobs: Bhagavan after his initial Self Realisation could enter either nirvikalpa samahdi or sahaja samahdi at will and often would do so for the Blissful Peace that these states contained. Many Jnanis can enter Samahdi at will after Self Realisation. It is no longer a matter of practice, but a necessary beneficial respite of peace after Teaching, Writing, Editing, and the other activities which he undertook during his more than fifty years of residence at Arunachala.

 NDM: Did at any point did he speak about or teach others how to attain samadhi in the way as outlined in the yoga sutras of Patanjali and his eight limbs of Yoga

END OF INTERVIEW