Sri Mahaprabu could not find the mind

Quoted from Journey of Sri Mahaprabu.

Black emphasis is Mahaprabu’s; green is Freddie’s.

Then came the words from Karl [Renz], as if he had read Mahaprabu’s mind. “Come on, ask the question!” (He probably saw the smile on my [Mahaprabu’s] face)

Mahaprabu: “Myself?”

Karl: “Yes! You.”

Mahaprabu: “You are telling ‘Drop the mind.’ But how to drop the mind?” (Mahaprabu had not spoken English in 6 years. These were the first words.)

Karl: “First you check whether there is a mind to drop.”

The match was struck.

Mahaprabu checked. I am here. I can feel the body, feel the world, feel my own existence but I am unable to feel the existence of the mind. Ah! It hit him. Beyond words came an understanding that all this time I have been worrying about something that doesn’t exist. I had created an entity called the mind and then tried to control it. Because of the present moment practice for 1 full year his mind always had just one thought, that is to stay in the present moment. For one year, just one thought. As one paper cannot be called a book, one thought cannot be called a Mind. Mahaprabu skipped the present moment thought and became attention. I searched deeply but could not find a trace of a mind. That was it. Then like something faster than light, I went inward. But I am there! Going deeper but I am still there. Before it was in flashes. Now it was continuous. I could stay with it. Joy, Bliss. I lost total awareness of surroundings, crowds etc. I merged in the universe. The thirst that started at 19, was quenched.

We have to lose the idea that we have a mind. Because Mahaprabu was in total ‘No Mind’ state for 1 year, he was able to drop. The same words “Simply drop the mind” for a normal person wouldn’t have worked, since he assumes the mind exists. For Mahaprabu there was no mind.

17 thoughts to “Sri Mahaprabu could not find the mind”

    1. Glad you liked it. I’ll take a look at the one you recommend. I didn’t do much to dig this up. A friend of mine made Sri Mahaprabu’s website and told me about it, so naturally I took a look. Also glad you spelled Mahaprabhu correctly even though Sri Mahaprabu doesn’t. One of my pet peeves is that people don’t realize that when we write Sanskrit words in Latin characters there are correct and incorrect spellings just like when we write the same words in Devanagari. For some reason Sri Mahaprabu omits the second H. Maybe he’s balancing Sadhguru who adds an H. 🙂

  1. Sri Mahaprabu conducts Satsang regularly in Paliapattu (8 Km from Ramanashramam) during the weekends. Seekers who are very eager to lose their ego and rediscover their true nature are welcome to attend Satsang with Sri Mahaprabu. Our location is mentioned below, along with a map.

    The devotee’s contribution for a day of Satsang is a minimum of Rs. 1,000. This also includes morning Tea and Snacks, Lunch and evening Coffee and Snacks. If you would like further information please write to us using the form below.

  2. Yes my friend, you are right. I can confirm what you said because I just booked a flight from Paris to Chennai.

    I just wonder if there is someone nowadays who is not charging money for “satsang”. Except the mountain Arunachala, I know nobody, what about you ?

    1. Who will you visit while you’re in India?

      I was joking before but now I’m serious. By coincidence, last week I discussed the 1000 rupee charge with my friend who knows Sri Mahaprabu well. He said the charge is new, and that Sri Mahaprabu added it not for revenue but as a filter to discourage people from coming to satsang unless they are earnest. Reminds me of the story of Bhagavan saying that the man who distributed pamphlets outside the ashram gate attacking him was doing him a service by keeping bad people away. (I think the story is in Talks and Conscious Immortality but I forget.)

      To answer your question, I don’t know who charges money in person — and also we have to decide who we think is a jnani — but I am as certain as I can be that Shiva Rudra Bala Yogi is a jnani, and he does free weekly Zoom satsangs. He’s in the foothills of the Himalayas not south India. What about Karl Renz who Mahaprabu mentions in this article?

      1. “and also we have to decide who we think is a jnani — but I am as certain as I can be that Shiva Rudra Bala Yogi is a jnani …”

        Interesting: I listened to a few of his talks a while back and completely agree. There is some type of intuitive recognition. Rare, but have learned to trust it …

        1. Hi Louise,

          I hope my intuition would be as accurate as yours in this case. I say that because my certainty is based on an event that happened when I spent a couple of weeks with him in 2005, and I’m not sure I should call that intuition. I may have written about this experience on the blog but I can’t find it now so maybe I didn’t. It was a very small experience that will probably sound like nothing if I describe it, but it changed my life because it convinced me that Self-realization is real — that Ramana’s state really happens to people — and that Shiva Rudra Bala Yogi is in that state. If that experience hadn’t happened, I might have eventually given up on Self-realization and resigned myself to the belief that the only real enlightenment is something much less than that. When I get some time I’ll describe what happened in a blog post. I don’t want to talk it up too much — it was a tiny event. But it convinced me.

          1. Would be very interested to hear about the “tiny event” 🙂 Funny how when we try to describe these profound insights the words reduce them and make them sound like yet another anecdote of the imagination-generating mind. It was Swami Atmananda who said “awakening is common, but self-realization is extremely rare”. Glad you were inspired not to give up; always hope you’ll drag me into the ocean with you ;).

  3. I will visit the moutain Arunachala itself.

    I know nothing about Karl Renz.

    By the way my friend, why did you erased your article on Annamalai Swamy about the new publication ? Did David Godman told you something interesting ?

    1. I erased it because as soon as I saw David’s comment (the same public comment you saw) I realized that I shouldn’t have said what I said without checking with him first. He didn’t ask me to erase it. I did it on my own initiative. Since then we’ve talked a little bit about it by email but the conversation isn’t finished yet so I haven’t put the article back yet.

    2. P.S. Have you thought about going to Meenakshi Temple in Madurai while you’re in India? That’s where this whole Ramana-centric life of mine began unexpectedly, by surprise, when I went there as a tourist in 1985. It’s about 100 meters from the house where Bhagavan realized the Self; it’s the temple he went to every day after school during the six weeks after his realization. Almost none of Bhagavan’s devotees talk much about that temple but in my experience the connection between the visitor and Sri Ramana Maharshi is or can be very strong in that place.

  4. So many people poses as spiritual teacher nowadays… Fortunately, you have come to know about Ramana, and he will help you to see very easily who is a fraud ans who is not.

    I wish you the best Freddie !

    Arunachala shiva !

    1. Fortunately, you have come to know about Ramana, and he will help you to see very easily who is a fraud ans who is not.

      Yes, I agree, one of the greatest benefits of knowing Ramana is that we get a sense of what genuine Self-realization is.

      I agree with you and I would expand what you say. It’s not only about spotting frauds. It’s also about avoiding self-deception. The Internet is full of people who honestly believe they are enlightened. They compare themselves to their friends and colleagues who also honestly believe they are enlightened, and they all tell each other they are enlightened so it must be true.

      Ramana is an example that saves us from underestimating enlightenment in that way, from cheating ourselves in that way.

      1. Well said Freddie.

        As some old Ramana devotee used to say: “Let us keep quiet, Bhagavan will do the rest”.

        Good bye !

  5. Regarding going to Madurai, I know only one place in India : Arunachala. I never went anywhere else, and I don’t want to go in any other place in India…

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