Bookish Knowledge : പുസ്തകത്തിൽ നിന്നുള്ള ജ്ഞാന സമ്പാദനം : 20 Jan 2015
The original post was in Malayalam and the discussion was in English
Snow Snow ശ്രീ രമണാശ്രമം പത്രാവലി (പത്രം-99) യിൽ നിന്ന് ഉദ്ധരിച്ച് പോസ്റ്റു താഴെകാണ്ന്നത് ചെയ്തിരിക്കുന്നു
Snow Snow ശ്രീ രമണാശ്രമം പത്രാവലി (പത്രം-99) യിൽ നിന്ന് ഉദ്ധരിച്ച് പോസ്റ്റു താഴെകാണ്ന്നത് ചെയ്തിരിക്കുന്നു
ഒരിക്കല് ധാരാളം പുസ്തകങ്ങള് വായിക്കുന്ന ഒരു ഭക്തനോട് രമണമഹര്ഷി ഇങ്ങിനെ പറഞ്ഞു.
"പുസ്തകജ്ഞാനത്തിന്റെ ആധിക്യം മനസ്സിന്റെ ചാഞ്ചല്യത്തിന്, ഭ്രമണത്തിന് മുഖ്യമായ ഒരു കാരണമാകുമെന്ന് പൂര്വ്വികരായ സൂരികള് പറയുന്നു.അത് താങ്കളെ ലക്ഷ്യത്തിലെത്തിക്കില്ല. ശാസ്ത്രങ്ങള് പഠിക്കുന്നതുകൊണ്ടും പണ്ഡിതനാകുന്നതു കൊണ്ടും നിങ്ങള്ക്ക് പ്രശസ്തി കിട്ടും. പക്ഷെ മുമുക്ഷുവും സത്യ ജിജ്ഞാസുവുമായ ഒരു സാധകന് അതുകൊണ്ട് മനസ്സമാധാനം ഉണ്ടാവില്ല. ഒരു മുമുക്ഷു ശാസ്ത്രങ്ങളുടെ സാരം ഗ്രഹിച്ച് വിണ്ടും വീണ്ടും അവയെ വായിക്കുന്നത് ഉപേക്ഷിക്കണം. വായന ധ്യാനത്തിന് വിരോധിയാണ്. ധാന്യമെടുത്ത് തൊണ്ടുകളയുന്നതുപോലെ സാരം ഗ്രഹിച്ച ശാസ്ത്രം കളയണം.
അനേകം ശാസ്ത്രങ്ങളും, മതങ്ങളും ഇവിടെ നിലവിലുണ്ട് എല്ലാം വായിക്കാന് ഒരു ജന്മംതന്നെ പോരാ, പിന്നെ അഭ്യാസത്തിന് സമയമെവിടെ? വായിക്കുന്തോറും
കൂടുതല് വായിക്കാനുള്ള ആശവരും.ഇതിന്റെ ഫലം മറ്റുള്ള പുസ്തകവായനക്കാരുമായി വെറുതെ ചര്ച്ചയാണ്. ഇങ്ങനെ നല്ല സമയമെല്ലാം കളഞ്ഞുകുളിക്കും.
ഇത് മുക്തിക്ക് സഹായമല്ല. ഇവിടെവന്ന് ആദ്യത്തെ രണ്ടുവര്ഷം ഞാനെന്തു പുസ്തകമാണ് വായിച്ചത്? ആരുടെ പ്രസംഗം കേട്ടു? വെറുതെ സ്വസ്തമായി
കണ്ണടച്ച് നിശ്ചലനായിരുന്നു. അത്രതന്നെ."
കൂടുതല് വായിക്കാനുള്ള ആശവരും.ഇതിന്റെ ഫലം മറ്റുള്ള പുസ്തകവായനക്കാരുമായി വെറുതെ ചര്ച്ചയാണ്. ഇങ്ങനെ നല്ല സമയമെല്ലാം കളഞ്ഞുകുളിക്കും.
ഇത് മുക്തിക്ക് സഹായമല്ല. ഇവിടെവന്ന് ആദ്യത്തെ രണ്ടുവര്ഷം ഞാനെന്തു പുസ്തകമാണ് വായിച്ചത്? ആരുടെ പ്രസംഗം കേട്ടു? വെറുതെ സ്വസ്തമായി
കണ്ണടച്ച് നിശ്ചലനായിരുന്നു. അത്രതന്നെ."
(ശ്രീ രമണാശ്രമം പത്രാവലി, പത്രം-99)
Spk Sudhin brought this post to the notice of Krishnan Kartha on 20th January 2015.
Krishnan Kartha commented : It is a great thing that the mother Nature provides the right food at the right time with right interval. One's duty is to relish the morsels as sumptuous feast. Without unnecessary haste. Haste makes indigestion, waste. Indigestion is confusion. I have found this in a boy who left his parents and his studies abroad and wandered here and there in himalayas and visited me yrsterday. So Sudhin, Upanishad says take the wisdom from the books like rice from paddy and throw away the husk......."
Spk Sudhin : Right message at Right time sir... Me too felt so... My hunger to read books left me in very much confusion and restlessness in mind. So decided to spend more time on contemplation... Read little and reflect more. I discussed about this view to Sreenath last day...
Sreenath R Sir really great message sir.... Our quest to catch some "mystic unknown" was ceased after attending the winter school on the realisation that these is no need to be mush haste to 'get' ' That' and as you said nature will gradually remove the curtain...
Sir while but for the little time given for for reading, how could we bifurcate the rice from husk? It is possible to a small extend now sir, but how to develop it?
Krishnan Kartha To Sreenath, It only means that after taking the content you may throw away the book. That is what Upanishads have said. Many people keep the book as an authority in their 'heads'. This is the wrong practise. Keep the meaning in 'heart' and leave the book. That is what is meant by the sentence. When you take it to heart, it needs synchronisation with what you have learnt already. A conflicting thing cannot enter the heart. It can enter the 'head' only, where the entered data is disected in detail. This analysis may sometimes lead to confusion. So the step is , read IF you must, then synchronise with what you have imbibed in your heart and if needed append the same. Leave the book.
Spk Sudhin From books to get the right knowledge we need a base isn't it? What can be taken as a base? What I meant is that do we need a basic framework to understand the right knowledge? Otherwise even if I think I got it by heart it will be another play of mind
Krishnan Kartha That is the problem. The basic framework is obtained only through continuous focus on the subject. It is already in the brain. The wisdom is stored therein. Uninterrupted contemplation on the matter is the preliminary step. There will be confirmation of the conclusions soon. Only a meditative mind can get it. So Meditate.
No wisdom is coming from outside. It is from yourself. You are treasure of all knowledge. Synthesise and reach Wisdom. The intellect is given for the work of synthesis and the resultant practical , joyful living....
Spk Sudhin So how we know when we reach the right conclusion..?
Krishnan Kartha I told you already, "There will be confirmation of the conslusions soon" .Try first. Then experience the confirmation...
Dont confine yourself into a tiny particle in the universe.Think Great.
Post Script comment
Spk Sudhin One morning in 1944, a disciple approached Bhagavan
with an air of supplication and said, “Bhagavan, I would like
to read books and find out a path whereby I can attain mukti,
but I do not know how to read. What shall I do? How can I
realise mukti?” Bhagavan said, “What does it matter if you
are illiterate? It is enough if you know your own Self.” “All
people here are reading books, but I am not able to do that.
What shall I do?” he said.
Stretching out his hand towards the disciple, Bhagavan
said, “What do you think the book is teaching? You see
yourself and then see me. It is like asking you to see yourself
in a mirror. The mirror shows only what is on the face. If
you see the mirror after washing your face, the face will
appear to be clean. Otherwise the mirror will say there is
dirt here, come back after washing. A book does the same
thing. If you read the book after realising the Self, everything
will be easily understood. If you read it before realising the
Self, you will see ever so many defects. It will say, ‘First set
yourself right and then see me.’ That is all. First see your
Self. Why do you worry yourself about all that book
learning?”
The disciple was satisfied and went away encouraged.
Another disciple who has the courage to ask questions on
such matters, took up the thread of the conversation and
said, “Bhagavan, you have given him a peculiar
interpretation.” Bhagavan replied, “What is peculiar in it?
It is all true. What books did I read when I was young?
What did I learn from others? I was always immersed in
meditation. After some time, Palaniswamy used to bring from
various people a number of books containing Vedantic
literature and used to read them. He used to make many
mistakes in reading. He was elderly and was not well-read.
He was however anxious to read. He used to read with
tenacity and religious faith. Because of that I used to feel
happy. So, when I took those books in order to read them
myself, and tell him what was in them, I found that what all
was written therein had already been experienced by myself.
I was surprised. I wondered, ‘What is all this? It is already
written here in these books about myself.’ That was so in
every one of those books. As whatever is written there has
already been experienced by myself, I used to understand
the text in no time. What took him twenty days to read, I
used to finish reading in two days. He used to return the
books and bring others. That was how I came to know about
what was written in the books.”
One of the disciples said, “That is perhaps why
Sivaprakasam Pillai, while writing Bhagavan’s biography,
referred to Bhagavan even at the outset as ‘One who is a
Brahma Jnani without knowing the name of Brahman’.”
Bhagavan said: “Yes, Yes, that is right. That is why it is said
that one should first know about oneself before reading a
book. If that is done, it will be known that what is written in
the book is only an epitome of what is really experienced by
oneself. If one does not see one’s Self but reads a book, one
finds a number of defects.” “Is it possible for all to become
like Bhagavan? The use of a book at least helps one to set
right one’s defects,” said the disciple. “That is so. I did not
say that reading is no help. I merely said that there is no
need for illiterate people to think they can never attain moksha
on that account and thereby feel disheartened. See how
depressed he was when he asked me. If the facts are not
explained properly, he will feel still further depressed,” said
Bhagavan.
with an air of supplication and said, “Bhagavan, I would like
to read books and find out a path whereby I can attain mukti,
but I do not know how to read. What shall I do? How can I
realise mukti?” Bhagavan said, “What does it matter if you
are illiterate? It is enough if you know your own Self.” “All
people here are reading books, but I am not able to do that.
What shall I do?” he said.
Stretching out his hand towards the disciple, Bhagavan
said, “What do you think the book is teaching? You see
yourself and then see me. It is like asking you to see yourself
in a mirror. The mirror shows only what is on the face. If
you see the mirror after washing your face, the face will
appear to be clean. Otherwise the mirror will say there is
dirt here, come back after washing. A book does the same
thing. If you read the book after realising the Self, everything
will be easily understood. If you read it before realising the
Self, you will see ever so many defects. It will say, ‘First set
yourself right and then see me.’ That is all. First see your
Self. Why do you worry yourself about all that book
learning?”
The disciple was satisfied and went away encouraged.
Another disciple who has the courage to ask questions on
such matters, took up the thread of the conversation and
said, “Bhagavan, you have given him a peculiar
interpretation.” Bhagavan replied, “What is peculiar in it?
It is all true. What books did I read when I was young?
What did I learn from others? I was always immersed in
meditation. After some time, Palaniswamy used to bring from
various people a number of books containing Vedantic
literature and used to read them. He used to make many
mistakes in reading. He was elderly and was not well-read.
He was however anxious to read. He used to read with
tenacity and religious faith. Because of that I used to feel
happy. So, when I took those books in order to read them
myself, and tell him what was in them, I found that what all
was written therein had already been experienced by myself.
I was surprised. I wondered, ‘What is all this? It is already
written here in these books about myself.’ That was so in
every one of those books. As whatever is written there has
already been experienced by myself, I used to understand
the text in no time. What took him twenty days to read, I
used to finish reading in two days. He used to return the
books and bring others. That was how I came to know about
what was written in the books.”
One of the disciples said, “That is perhaps why
Sivaprakasam Pillai, while writing Bhagavan’s biography,
referred to Bhagavan even at the outset as ‘One who is a
Brahma Jnani without knowing the name of Brahman’.”
Bhagavan said: “Yes, Yes, that is right. That is why it is said
that one should first know about oneself before reading a
book. If that is done, it will be known that what is written in
the book is only an epitome of what is really experienced by
oneself. If one does not see one’s Self but reads a book, one
finds a number of defects.” “Is it possible for all to become
like Bhagavan? The use of a book at least helps one to set
right one’s defects,” said the disciple. “That is so. I did not
say that reading is no help. I merely said that there is no
need for illiterate people to think they can never attain moksha
on that account and thereby feel disheartened. See how
depressed he was when he asked me. If the facts are not
explained properly, he will feel still further depressed,” said
Bhagavan.
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