A Simple Method to Abide in the _I Am

7/23/2019 A Simple Method to Abide in the _I Am

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A simple method to abide in the I amBy

Pradeep Apte

([email protected])

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#

A Simple Method to Abide in the _I Am

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