So?!!!

My dear Syamala
Paul Brunton's book is about his 'Search in secret India'. He also wrote on his 'Search in Secret Egypt'. When Paul Brunton came to meet Bhagwan Ramana in 1935, there was another great soul who was with the two. You know who? Swami Yoganand Paramahans! Brunton himself was almost a Rishi who was constantly looking out for the mystics of the world.

If Paul Brunton visits India today, he might meet our politicians and fake Swamijis, and would have surely written a book on 'Secret Life of India'! His conversations with them would last for days unlike his conversation with Ramana Maharshi in which literally no words were spoken.

A belated Ugadhi greetings to you!
Sri

 

Kerman, my dear!
So how is life with you? Lame FB? What else can you give for a lame thread? So your brother also is a So addict like me? 'So' is actually the most powerful word in existence in English language. With just that word, I have handled even seminars and workshops very effectively. If a junior officer explains his poor performance giving some valid reasons, and if we do not want to agree with him but show our sterner side to him, we do not have to give him a dressing down. We just need to look at him intensely and shoot a 'So?' at him, he'll surely be unnerved and collapse!

I am so happy that you are following my footsteps! My stand is surely vindicated!
Sri

 

My dear Syamala
Thank you for your New Year Greetings which I'll cherish.
Here is a rare video grab of the spiritual world's most coveted moment:
Ramana Maharshi, Swami Yogananda & Paul Brunton - YouTube
You can see Bhagwan Ramana, Paul Brunton and Swami Yoganand.

sri

 

My dear Srama
You have really got me obsessed with the Zen quote of ‘Before Enlightenment chop wood carry water, after Enlightenment, chop wood carry water’. My mind is going round and round this saying and I marvel at this simple truth of perfection. I am a great fan of Chuang Tzu’s short stories which Osho quotes regularly. This story is the one I read in his Wisdom Stories.

Prince Hui's cook was cutting up a bullock. Every blow of his hand, every heave of his shoulders, every step of his foot, every thrust of his knee, every whshhof the bullock's torn flesh, every chhk of the chopper, was in perfect harmony— in rhythm like the dance of the Mulberry Grove, simultaneous like the chords of the Ching Shou.
“Well done!” cried the Prince.
“How did you ever achieve such skill?”
“Sire,” replied the cook, “I have always devoted myself to the Tao. It is better than skill. When I first began cutting up bullocks, I saw before me simply whole bullocks. After three years of practice, I saw no more whole animals. And now I work with my mind and not with my eye. When my senses bid me stop, but my mind urges me on, I fall back upon eternal principles. I follow such openings or cavities as there may be, according to the animal's natural physique. I do not attempt to cut through the veins, arteries, and tendons, still less through large bones.”
“A good cook changes his chopper once a year— because he cuts. An ordinary cook, once a month— because he hacks. But I have had this chopper nineteen years, and although I have cut up many thousands bullocks, its edge is as if fresh from the grindstone. For at the joints there are always crevices, and the edge of a chopper being without thickness, it remains only to insert that which is without thickness into such a crevice. By these means the crevice will be enlarged, and the blade will find plenty of room. It is thus that I have kept my chopper for nineteen years as though fresh from the grindstone.”
“Nevertheless, when I come upon a hard part where the blade meets with a difficult section, I proceed with caution. I fix my gaze and go slowly, gently applying my blade, until with a Hwah! the part yields like earth crumbling to the ground. Then I take out my chopper, and stand up, and look around, and I wipe my chopper and put it carefully away.”
“Bravo!” cried the Prince.
“From the words of this cook I have learnt how to take care of my life.”

There cannot be a better explanation for an enlightened worker!
Sri

 

My dear Viji
When your greetings landed in my PC, I was fast asleep! Thank you for your loving greetings which I heartily reciprocate. I blessed you in my heart yesterday itself when I was saying my prayers yesterday. You will always be in my prayers as my wonderful sister.
Sri