RIBHU GITA | CHAPTER 4 | SEL001 TO SEL051

|| 00 | INTRODUCTION BY MASTER NOME ||

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL001

That which is known as Brahman , or the Self , is the timeless Truth .

Unalloyed Being , it alone is for all eternity .

Nonduality is its nature .

Advaita Vedanta , or the Teaching of Nonduality , consists of the Knowledge of this immutable Truth .

It reveals how the Self alone is real , one without second .

It is the revelation of Reality itself .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL002

An exposition of Advaita Vedanta unsullied by even the least trace of a notion of ignorant dualism is the essence and substance of the teaching proclaimed by the great sage , Ribhu , that appears in the ancient scripture Sivarahasya , which later , in its Tamil recension was entitled Ribhu Gita , the song of Ribhu .

In the form of a dialogue between the great sage , Ribhu , and the blessed disciple , Nidagha , verse upon verse , chapter upon chapter elucidates the Knowledge of the Absolute .

With countless negations of all that is of an unreal nature , and declaration after declaration regarding the sole-existent reality of Brahman , the Self , the nondual Truth is presented , utterly unobstructed , by Ribhu in this rare , sacred work .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL003

This Brahman-Knowledge , or Self-Realization , is of the nature of direct experience transcending all perceptions and notions .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL004

In this direct experience , or Realization , there is a complete absence of the delusion of duality , which manifests as the notions of an ego , a mind , a body — which is mistaken to be one's identity or residence — and of an objective world .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL005

Sankalpa-s , notions assumed to be valid due simply to lack of inquiry into them , alone constitute all those illusions .

If one frees oneself from such delusions and illusions by absorbing the Truth revealed by Ribhu , what remains is the perpetual , direct experience of the everpresent Self .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL006

The Self is self-effulgent Being-Consciousness-Bliss .

Nothing else is a knower of the Self ; nor is there anything else for the Self to know .

There has never been anything else created .

The Self alone IS .

IT knows ITSelf by ITSelf . IT is never a known or unknown object . IT simply IS as IT IS .

Being abides in ITSelf ; Consciousness knows ITSelf ; Bliss reposes in ITSelf .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL007

This pure , nondual Realization is what Ribhu teaches , and one who approaches this sacred scripture in the correct manner will realize the same Truth .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL008

Because of the consistent height of the teaching if Ribhu Gita , and its flood of negations of both the secular and concepts of spirituality , inclusive of ideas associated with Vedanta and worship of Siva , the aspirant must approach it in a way that yields the intended fruit : Self-Realization .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL009

The aspirant must be endowed with an intense desire for Liberation .

Self-Realization is alone deep , lasting happiness , and attaining it is alone the purpose of life .

The aspirant should be endowed with nonattachment .

Having discerned what is eternal and the source of happiness , one should be nonattached to all that is transitory , all that is mutable , all that is mere , fleeting , phenomenal appearance , all that depends upon senses , all that depends on the mind , all that is contained within the states of mind , all that depends on the individual , or jiva , in order to be experienced .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL010

The aspirant should be endowed with the power of discrimination .

One should embrace the inquiry into the real nature of the Self and , disidentifying from the body , senses , prana , mind , and ego , or " I " notion , be one-pointedly immersed in meditation on the Self .

One should discriminate between the real and the unreal , so that one realizes the real ever is , and the unreal never came to be .

One should regard all that is transitory , changeful , objective , composed of parts , sporadic , or dependent as unreal .a

One should realize that that which is eternal , unchanging , nonobjective , indivisible and partless , continuous , and nondependent is the ever-existent Reality .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL011

Abandoning the notions of the external , which give rise to the appearance of the world , and notions of the internal , which give rise to the delusions of a mind and an individual , the aspirant should have full faith in the sacred Knowledge of Advaita Vedanta .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL012

Endowed with humility and also with full faith in the Guru and in the innate ability to realize the Absolute — because all are , in truth , the Absolute Self — one should imbibe the sublime wisdom of the Ribhu Gita , and abide in the natural state of Self-Realization .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL013

It is from the great Sage, my ever-gracious Guru , Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi , that we know of Ribhu Gita and its exalted significance .

The revered Annamalai Swami has said ,

" Bhagavan often said that we should read and study the Ribhu Gita regularly .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL014

In the Ribhu Gita it is said ,

' That bhavana " I am not the body , I am not the mind , I am Brahman , I am everything " is to be repeated again and again until this becomes the natural state ' .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL015

Bhagavan ( Ramana Maharshi ) sat with us every day while we chanted extracts from the Ribhu Gita , which affirmed the reality of the Self .

It is true that Bhagavan said that these repetitions are only an aid to self-enquiry , but they are a very powerful aid . "

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL016

What is extolled and expounded in Ribhu Gita is the identical supreme Truth evident in the Ramana Maharshi's Realization .

The ineffable , immortal state , which is transcendent of all , in which there is no differentiation , which is Sahaja — the effortless , innate , natural state — and beyond which there is nothing else is Sri Bhagavan's .

Sri Bhagavan's boundless peace , supreme happiness , profound wisdom , and very Presence are what the Ribhu Gita describes .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL017

Ramana Maharshi says ,

" I did not yet know that there was an Essence , or Impersonal Real , underlying everything and that God and I were both identical with it .

Later , at Tiruvannamalai , as I listened to the Ribhu Gita and other sacred books , I learned all this and found that they were analyzing and naming what I had felt intuitively without analysis or name . "

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL018

In Sri V Ganesan's wonderful book entitled Moments Remembered , Sri MG Shanmugam recounts ,

" Bhagavan ( Ramana Maharshi ) would quote from Ribhu Gita , Kaivalya Navaneetam , Jnana Vasistha , and other advaitic texts and explain to me their greatness .

All the while , I was aware I was in the blissful presence of a Brahmajnani , so highly extolled in all our scriptures .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL019

Thus , for Realized sages , a holy text such as Ribhu Gita is an expression or reflection of the ineffable Truth , which they have realized and are , while for the seekers of Liberation it is a gateway into the infinite space of pure Being-Consciousness-Bliss — that is , Brahman .

That such a scripture — the expression of That from which all words and thoughts turn back — should exist is a great blessing .

That there be a sage , a knower of Brahman who is Brahman , is inestimable Grace for which we can never be too thankful .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL020

Whether Reading chapter after chapter , immersed in the floodtide of supreme Knowledge , or verse by verse , phrase by phrase , plumbing the fathomless depth of this liberating Knowledge , one should approach this scripture as a profound meditation .

This is no mere collection of words or thoughts , but the revelation of the eternal Self .

Indeed , the knowledge contained herein can be comprehended by the innermost Consciousness alone ; neither the eyes nor the intellect can do so .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL021

The repetition in Ribhu's instruction is intentional and is for the purpose of inculcation a profound meditative approach and the direct experience of Self-Knowledge described therein .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL022

For those who experience this Realization , the Truth is ever fresh and of perpetual fascination .

For them who are aspiring — they cannot hear to much of it .

To truly understand Ribhu's teaching is to abide in and as the one Absolute .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL023

Sage Ribhu's revelation of the Truth of the Self , Brahman , is seamlessly consistent , just as the Maharshi's teaching is perfectly consistent .

Apparent contradictions in the Ribhu Gita are completely dissolved when one realizes the import of the declarations .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL024

Thus , in some chapters " All is Brahman " is emphasized ,

while in others " Brahman alone is , and there is no all " is emphasized .

If one considers anything else to be or to appear , know that Brahman alone is all that .

RIBHU GITA | INTRODUCTION | SEL025