Post on 12-Feb-2018
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A simple method to abide in the I amBy
Pradeep Apte
(aptep@yahoo.com)
I humbly offer salutations to my Guru Sri Nisargadatta maharaj
who made me correctly understand the meaning of God:
Just hold on to the knoled!e I am" your sense o# bein! or
presence. $his #eelin! that you are is the %od in you" let it be
you !uide or %uru" there is nothin! else to be done.&
This statement loudly rung a bell in my mind as I recollected the
words SriBrahmachaitanya Gondavlekar Maharaj:$he 'uality o# bein! or presence is common to all obects
liin! or non*liin!" ith #orm or ithout #orm. $hou!hts are
#ormless but their presence is ery much there. $his bein! is
Nama" the name o# %od hich I hich I stron!ly recommend
you all to recite.&
In Maharashtra, Sri Gondavlekar Maharaj (18451!1"# was one of
the great e$%onents of the %ractice of &Namasmarana' which
means remembering God by reciting or chanting his name I hadread his teachings se)eral years bac*, e)en before *nowing Sri
Nisargadatta maharaj.
+ccording to Sri Nisargadatta Maharajthe I am, being or
&%resence' is common to all ob-ects, li)ing or nonli)ing It is the
com%osition of the ob-ect in terms of the fi)e elements and three
.ualities that determines whether the I am, being or %resence is
*nown or e$%ressible to it The I am, being or %resence is a
reflection of the +bsolute and holding on to it one can reali/e the
+bsoluteThe teachings of both these masters are .uite similar which thus
lead us to an ancient and sim%le %ractice or &Sadhana' of
&Namasmarana' If one in)estigates one shall find that the
teachings of not only these two masters but almost all the masters
are .uite similar and all bring you to the doorste% of God The
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reason, at least for me, was .uite sim%le, my intellect or
understanding only went u% to a certain %oint and could go no
further There was something definitely missing in all this and that
was de)otion0 ithout surrender to the di)ine you could ne)er
%ossibly e$%ect yourself on your own to go beyond the intellectand reali/e the +bsolute If you are nurturing any such
e$%ectations you are still on an ego tri% that you always go on for
achie)ing anything in your day to day li)ing as an indi)idual
I thought, re%eating the 2ame of God3 This is something insane0
ut then, in all this that you ha)e been doing so far, has sanity %aid
off3 2o, so why not insanity for a change3 +nd see the grace of my
Guru, I didn't ha)e to wait long he had all the answers for me et
us see what he had to say in this matter:+onstant repetition o# ords (Japa) is a kind o# madness but
deliberate madness. All repetitieness is tamas" but repeatin!
the name o# %od is a satwa-tamasdue its hi!her purpose.
Because o# the satwathe tamasill ear out and ill take the
shape o# detachment" relin'uishment" aloo#ness" immutability.
Tamasbecomes the #irm #oundation on hich inte!rated li#e
can be lied. $he purpose o#Japais to consere onesel#" that
means the knoin!ness (the knoled!e I am) is to bereturned.Japain ,arathi means to !uard" to protect. -ou
should protect your bein!ness byJapa.&
6e further said:
hen you are initiated into a spiritual discipline ith a
sacred name" it means that it represents you /ltimate $rue
0ature. Be one ith the sacred name completely" then it ill
!ie you all the mystical knoled!e necessary #or your spiritual
eolution. It ill aaken you into your 1ternal Aareness.
$his is the mystic key*ord o# theNavanath Sampradaya" the
traditional order o# the nine %urus.
Be#ore the emanation o# any ords I already e2ists3 later I say
mentally I am. $he ord #ree and the thou!ht #ree state is the
Atman. $heAtmanper se is sel# su##icient but hen it clin!s to
the body" treatments such as mental and physical recreation
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or occupation are necessary" ithout hich theAtmancannot
be tolerated by a person. 4or spiritual eolution" hich is a
re'uisite in the detachment o#Atman#rom body identity"
arious disciplines hae been recommended5 the best is
Namasmarana 6 recitation o# a holy name o# %od. But here%od means the indellin! principle ithin you 6 theAtman"
hich is !ien arious names. $hese represent the inner %od
ho ill respond no matter hich name o# %od you chant.
Japa(usin! beads o# rosary) is an occupation to the hands but
it is the inner %od you are supposed to inoke. $he keynote o#
recitation is to con#irm this I*am*ness ithin itsel#. $he
mer!in! o# bein!ness ithin itsel# is the ery #ount o# bliss.&
+nother great e$%onent of &Namasmarana' from 7erala SwamiRamdas(18841!"# was bestowed by the grace of the master of
masters Sri Ramana Maharshi in 1!99, about this e$%erience he
said:
7$heMaharshi" turnin! his beauti#ul eyes toardsRamdas"
and lookin! intently #or a #e minutes into his eyes as thou!h
he as pourin! intoRamdas his blessin!s throu!h those orbs"
nodded his head to say he had blessed. A thrill o# ine2pressible
oy coursed throu!h the #rame o#Ramdas,his hole body'uierin! like a lea# in the bree8e.7
In that ecstatic state he leftMaharshi's%resence and went to s%end
nearly a month in a ca)e on the slo%es of +runachala in constant
chanting ofRamnaam This was the first occasion that he went into
solitude and during this %eriod of solitude he ne)er bathed, sha)ed,
or cut his hair hen he ate, he only ate )ery little +fter twenty
one days, when he came out of the ca)e he saw a strange, all
%er)asi)e light: e)erything wasRamand onlyRam
Swami Ramdassays about the 2ame of God:%od and 9is 0ame are not distinct #rom one another. 0ame is
%od 9imsel#. $he moment e think o# the 0ame" our mind is
#illed ith the presence o# %od. $here is no easier ay o#
#ocusin! thou!ht upon %od than takin! constantly 9is 0ame.
hen e repeat the 0ame aloud" e #eel our heart is #looded
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ith the ecstasy o# loe" because the sound o# the :iine 0ame
aakens the heart to the bliss and loe o# %od.
Althou!h the mental repetition o# the 0ame is held to be #ar
more e##icacious than the erbal repetition" still the rare
e2perience o# seetness and oy deried by utterin! the 0amealoud is incomparable. hen the entire bein! o# the deotee
thrills ith rapture to the music o# the 0ame he reali8es that
the 0ame is Brahman.
%od is both" mani#est and unmani#est. $he 0ame stands #or
such a %od. 9ere the unmani#est is the all*peradin!" in#inite"
immutable" tran'uil and static spirit o# %od. $he mani#est is
the entire unierse o# name" #orm and moement ith all its
bein!s" creatures and thin!s. $he 0ame stands #or thisall*inclusie and all*transcendent %odhead" ho is both
personal and impersonal.
$he :iine 0ame is thus the be!innin!less source o# all
creation and the creation itsel#. %od" the absolute" is the
nameless 0ame. $he 0ame can #ree the soul #rom bonda!e.
$he 0ame can take it to the hi!hest consummation o# spiritual
li#e. $he 0ame can !rant a blind soul :iine si!ht. $he 0ame
can bless an indiidual ith a uniersal ision #ull o# sublimity.$he 0ame can li#t the soul to inconceiable hei!hts o#
%od*reali8ation.
$he poer o# the 0ame is inincible. A mind hich is
considered to be uncon'uerable" by the soothin! in#luence o#
the 0ame becomes" docile" yieldin! and submissie. $he mind
itsel# is trans#ormed into %od by the poer o# the 0ame. 9e
ho takes re#u!e in the 0ame can ork onders. :eath itsel#
ill stand in ae o# him. 9e can command all the #orces o#
nature and direct them" to brin! about a spiritual aakenin! in
the hearts o# men. $he 0ame can make a human bein! an
embodiment o# eternal loe and oy. $he 0ame can conert an
indiidual into a +osmic ;eality * an i!norant soul into a ery
%od. here the 0ame o# %od is sun!" the atmosphere is
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permeated ith purity" peace and bliss5 #or the symphony o#
the 0ame spreads eeryhere the splendour o# loe.
$he 0ame is all*su##icient. $he utterance o# it is itsel#
meditation. $he ecstasy born o# it is itsel#