JNANA

GANGA

Ganga Maa
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Introduction
From a spiritual standpoint, all the people in this
world can be categorized into three distinct groups:

1. Those ignorant of the Truth (ajnani)

2. Those seekers striving to know the Truth (jijnasu),
and
3. Those who know the Truth (jnani)

Interestingly, those in complete ignorance and

those who are established in the wisdom of the Self
have no doubts about the nature of this world. Only
the seeker who is plagued by uncertainties, inquires
further.

A sincere seeker is led to the Guru by Divine

Providence. When he comes in contact with a Master,
the seeker slowly drops all other pursuits, gains a
healthy level of discrimination or vairagya, and is
willing to surrender at the feet of the Guru and
subjects oneself to the Guru’s teaching and guidance.
In other words, the seeker chooses the Self to the
exclusion of all else. There is a famous statement in the
Katha Upanishad that says, ‘Yam Eva Eshah Vrinute
Tena Labhyah’, meaning the one who chooses the Self
exclusively, obtains the Self.

In the holy temple town of Tiruvannamalai we

find our dear Ganga Maa, fondly called “Amma”, who
is usually hidden from common sight. However, She
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can easily be spotted by those eyes that are thirsty for

the highest knowledge. During the course of the past
few years, several devotees wanted to get their doubts
cleared and needed clarifications with respect to their
spiritual practices. Few of Amma's Upadeshas/
guidance to the devotees form the content of this text.

The pearls of wisdom embedded in this short

text are meant for those of us who are constantly
striving to seek the Truth and gain everlasting
abidance. They are in the form of aphorisms, also
called ‘Sutras’ in Sanskrit – short sentences that carry a
lot of meaning. Obviously, they are not meant for
casual reading. They are statements for contemplation
and could drive one deep into the innermost core of
one’s being. Most importantly, these statements reveal
Amma’s direct experience of the Truth as She revels in
the Blissful Self.

I pray to the almighty Lord that all sincere

seekers derive maximum benefit from this text and
achieve the highest goal of human life through
spiritual unfoldment.

Hari Om.

Subbu Venkatkrishnan
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Contents

1. Guru .......................................................1
2. Bhakti (Devotion)................................3
3. Surrender ..............................................4
4. True Knowledge ..................................6
5. Death ...................................................10
6. The Self ...............................................11
7. Strength in Spiritual Path................13
8. Guidance for Seekers .......................14
9. Jnani .....................................................18
10. Grace ....................................................20
11. Compassion ........................................22
12. Jiva .......................................................23
13. Patterns of Mind ................................26
14. Wisdom ...............................................28
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Guru
1. There are only two ways to reach
the Truth: either to see the whole
world as your Guru or to see your
Guru as the whole world.
2. The Guru (as the Self) through
Grace, pulls one towards Him like a
magnet, and the effortless and natural
movement towards the Guru (Self) is
the path. Guru, Grace and the path are
one.
3. The Guru does not support
dvaitam (duality). If anyone carries the
duality within them, He removes it.
4. Real closeness to Guru/God is
giving Him the freedom to mould you
the way He pleases.

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5. With Guru's Grace, many

lifetimes of teachings (lessons) can be
given within a short span of time.
6. If there is perfect viveka (discri-
mination) within, no Guru is needed
outside because viveka is the inner
Guru.
7. There is no difference between a
Master and His teachings. Love for the
Master is love for His teachings, and
love for His teachings will naturally
lead to love for the Master.
8. Guru does not give an answer to
your question, but takes you to the
answer within.
9. You cannot please your Guru
with your scriptural knowledge. He
wants 'you'.

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Bhakti (Devotion)

10. The longing for the Truth itself

will lead to Guru bhakti. When the
thirst for the Truth is intense and
when Grace gives the experience of
the Atman, gratitude flowers within
the heart, which itself is Guru bhakti.
11. Real bhakti happens when the
bhakta is non-existent and God alone
remains.
12. Knowledge remains incomplete
without devotion and devotion cannot
attain fullness without knowledge.
When they come together, there is
completeness.

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Surrender

13. We need to become zero before

becoming full.
14. When cit (consciousness) comes
in contact with jadam (ego/mind), it
(jadam) loses its nature. This is
surrender.
15. When one surrenders uncondi-
tionally to Guru or God, then the
complete surrender is a happening
through Grace. The responsibility of
the jiva is to be in unconditional
surrender and then the Grace makes
the complete surrender happen by its
own power. Grace is always
unconditional. Only when we are in
unconditional surrender, we are able
to receive it fully.

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16. ‘Shishyatvam’ (being a disciple) is

a quality where one does not want to
exist as a separate entity.

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True Knowledge
17. ‘Atmajnanam’ is the only thing
which is equally available to all. It is
not something new to be taught or
given from one’s hand.
18. When real knowledge dawns,
devotion, surrender and humility
naturally flower within, like how the
branches of a tree bend down on their
own when it yields fruits.
19. To know ‘who I am’ is to know
God and to know God is to know
‘who I am’.
20. If I identify myself with anything,
even with God, I become limited.
When no identification is held on to, I
realize my eternal and unlimited
nature.

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21. To know the unknowable, you

must understand that you do not
know what you think you already
know. You must remain in the state of
unknowing and drop what you
already know.
22. Cause and effect are only in this
relative plane. Holding on to a cause is
holding on to illusion. Your birth itself
has no cause. You were never born.
23. Awakening happens only if there
is a dream. When the dreamer is
found, the dream ends. Likewise, the
dream of life ends when the source of
the dreamer is found. The reality has
neither dream nor awakening.
24. The only way to come out of
bondage is to realize the falsity of
attachment. You have nothing to hold
on to and nothing to leave. Remain as

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you are. The very nature of Atma is

non-attachment.
25. Whether doing the highest
sadhana or very gross vyavahara, the
Atma remains the same. Neither does
the Atma gain anything through the
highest spiritual practice nor does it
lose anything through gross actions.
Knowing this, continue your sadhana.
26. When the Seer is seen, I am free.
When the objects are seen, I am bound.
27. Oneness is not external. How can
two objects become one? It can never
happen at the level of body, mind or
ego. It is at the level of Awareness
where there is not even oneness, but
just one.
28. Jnanam (knowledge about the
Self) is not for debating knowledge but
for experiential knowledge.

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29. Complete knowledge alone gives

relief and freedom.

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Death

30. Desire for living is the cause of

fear of death.
31. Fear of death is also a thought
whereas death is a natural happening.
32. If you admit the cause of the
birth, then the effect is death.
33. Whenever the ego loses its hold
on something thought of as 'mine', it is
a small death of the ego.
34. Unconscious death of the ego is
death of the body. Conscious death of
the ego is samadhi.

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The Self

35. The Self is neither attached nor

detached. It is as It is.
36. My separate existence away from
Consciousness is selfishness. The
realization of the Self is selflessness.
37. We cannot experience the Self
because the Self is the experience of all
experiences.
38. We cannot think about Bhagavan
(Self) because He is not an object to be
thought about. All other things can
come under a thought. He is the very
existence in us. Anything and every-
thing else can be a thought, feeling,
experience or enjoyment, which have
no separate existence apart from Him.

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39. Fulfillment is the nature of the

Atma, not of the body or mind.
40. If everything were perfect in this
world, nobody would seek God or
Self. Because the world is imperfect,
we seek perfection which is God or
Self.
41. Only because ‘I’ exist is there
even a spiritual journey. ‘I’ am the
witness of all spiritual efforts and
sadhana, and ‘I’ attain myself in the
end.

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Strength in Spiritual Path

42. The real strength is not of the ego
but of the Truth.
43. When 'I' without any attributes is
meditated upon, mind comes to
stillness. But mind cannot stay there
and comes out with a force to catch an
external object (vishaya). Bringing
mind back again to the pure 'I' is
vairagyam.
44. Inner strength is seeing things
through the light of knowledge.
45. Even when the world shakes,
keep your attention on the unshaking
Truth. That is the only protection you
have.

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Guidance for Seekers

46. The reason one desires to read
more and more scriptures is due to a
restless intellect. Only when this
ceases can one actually turn inward
and reach the state of contentment of
abiding in the Self.
47. ‘Shraddha’ (awareness) is neither
concentration nor focus on any object.
When the mind loses all its focus
points (concentration), you are
naturally in awareness. That aware-
ness includes everything.
48. ‘Summa Iru’ (Be Still) is an
instruction neither for the Self nor for
the body, but for the ego.
49. Fulfillment gives the real
sannyasa and not any lack within.

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50. Discipline is to refrain from

moving with the tendencies of the
mind (vasanas). The ego must be kept
under the watchful eye of awareness.
All external and yogic disciplines
come under this. This internal
discipline is direct and the only way to
bring about an essential change.
51. Don't mix 'I am Brahman' idea
with the one (ego/mind) who thinks
he knows and understands about the
Self. When the knower is non-existent,
what exists is only Brahman.
52. While reading the biographies of
Saints and Sages, sometimes, one may
unknowingly fall into imitation. The
mind compares and forms false ideas,
believing that it must do the same
actions as the Saint to attain freedom,

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as though it is a fixed path. Each

person’s journey is totally unique.
Rather, one should read about the
lives of Saints, draw inspiration from
it and channel that into one’s own
sadhana.
53. When mukti is a desire, the one
who desires remains to gain
something. When it is a need, the
necessity to come out of the bondage
is natural.
54. When I love the Truth and its
attainment is a necessity for me, all
actions leading to it are totally
effortless.
55. What is the right action? When-
ever I lose my identity as a separate
entity, the right action happens
through me because the doer is absent.

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56. Only if I have had enough of all

worldly interests, my total attention
will fall on the Self.

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Jnani

57. Pure Consciousness does not

have arms, legs or a mouth to speak of
Its existence. Luckily, the Jnani who is
no different from consciousness, by
His own experience, describes what
and how that state is.
58. The Jnani is full and empty at the
same time. He is totally empty of the
mind and full of Brahman.
59. The Jnani is not indifferent. He
only appears so to those whose mind
knows only difference. Indifference is
seen only if there is difference.
Indifference is also a mental mode
whereas a Jnani's state is all inclusive,
where there is neither difference nor
indifference.

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60. We live our lives with our

opinions, attachments and desires.
These are resistances to life. Life flows
one way, but we want it to be
different. Whereas a Jnani completely
moves with the flow of life.
61. The most ecstatic experience,
even if it is spiritual, is also a
disturbance for the Jnani.

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Grace

62. Grace is the Atmashakti (power of

the Self) which gives recognition of the
Self, makes one abide in it and
destroys the ego completely. The
personification of Grace is Guru.
63. The work of Grace is to
constantly reveal ‘who I am not’.
64. There is only one sign to
understand that the Grace has entered
our life after unconditional surrender.
When Grace starts working, life
becomes a happening beyond all our
plans and expectations. We totally lose
our hold on anything; or rather Grace
takes over everything and makes us a
witness to it.

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65. The mind and the intellect can

only assume about the Self. Only the
pure intelligence of the Self can reveal
it and give the “Yes” (conviction) from
within.
66. Self-realization can happen at any
time if the pure intelligence of the Self
invokes its presence within to reveal
‘who I am’.
67. Everything that appears in front
of you is within the field of Grace. So,
accept them all as blessings.

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Compassion

68. Compassion is an act of giving

without a giver.
69. The highest expression of
compassion is the principle of Guru
(Guru Tattvam).
70. Real compassion comes out of
true dispassion.
71. God cannot show you com-
passion out of sympathy. He can show
it only looking at your forbearance
(titiksha).

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Jiva

72. Jiva is Ishvara Himself. A jiva

identifies itself with its body, with the
ones around it as 'mine', and limits
itself to this lifespan. When these
identifications are dropped, what
remains as jiva is not different from
Ishvara.
73. Every jiva takes ownership for its
own actions but questions God for its
unfavorable results.
74. Whenever we fail with ego, we
are unhappy. Whenever we fail
without ego, we are happy. When we
fail with ego, we have no acceptance
of the failure, but have the desire to
win, and so, we are unhappy. When
we fail without ego, we accept the

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failure and have no expectation of

success, so we are happy. Or, we
understand that the failure is for the
ego and not for me (Self).
75. When there is fear, doubt,
faithlessness and misery, understand
that the ego is working. When there is
peace, contentment and bliss, know
that the Self is shining and the ego is
absent.
76. Only when the total inability of
the ego to do anything is realized, it
(ego) submits to the power of Grace.
The experiential knowledge of the
powerlessness of the ego is also given
by Grace because the ego can never
accept its own defeat.
77. Objects lie within the subject (‘I’ –
the ego). By renouncing the subject,
the reality of existence of objects

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naturally disappears. Real renunciation

is the realization that the subject never
existed.
78. The cause for objective reality is
the subjective reality (‘I’ - sense).
79. The idea of 'I' (individuality) is
always related to the past, stuck in its
own story. Whereas in the present it
has no story.
80. Ahankara is not a mistake, it's a
false veiling. Understanding this is
jnanam.
81. ‘Jiva Samadhi’ happens when the
ego subsides in the heart. We have to
build the samadhi for the jiva within,
while living. For such ones, what does
it matter whether the body is cremated
or buried?

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Patterns of Mind

82. Holding on to anything (with the

mind) is of the past. The Truth is
always in the present.
83. The desire for performing an
action when there is no need for it
invites karma. Keeping oneself inactive
when a step needs to be taken, also
invites karma.
84. If the mind is recognized only as
a force that arises from the Self, there
will be no worry.
85. The nature of the mind is
exclusion. Awareness is all inclusive.
86. The intellect and the mind split
things; the heart unites things.

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87. Apparent action of the body

(movement of the limbs) is not real
action. The thought ‘I am the doer’
makes it an action
88. The expectation and the thought
of action only makes the action bound
but the action itself is not binding.
89. Inside and outside exist only to
the body or mind, which act as
reference points. When there is no
reference point, where is inside and
where is outside?

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Wisdom

90. An unconscious life is ignorance.

A very conscious life is wisdom.
91. When I really know 'I do not
know', I am opening all the doors of
possibilities.
92. We always smile during the good
times, but if we smile during the times
of adversity, that is knowledge.
93. The shraddha (attention) you put
on something is the value you give
for it.
94. The one who values time and life
goes beyond both.
95. Being the source of all joy, we
have forgetfully wandered outside,
identifying happiness with different

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objects. In life, suffering (from any

objects/person) comes to indicate that
happiness is not present there. It is our
wrong vision which gives reality to
suffering. To realize and recognize this
is possible only through Grace.
96. Demanding respect will not bring
respect. Respecting everything around
you makes you respectable.
97. The peace that is present when I
am 'nobody' can never be experienced
when I become 'somebody', however
great it ('somebody') may be.
98. Real freedom is freedom from the
body, mind and ego, and not freedom
of the body, mind and ego.
99. Keeping oneself in the Truth as
well as facing the situations and
acting according to the knowledge
and receiving lessons out of them,

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keeps your practice balanced and

makes it full.
100. True learning starts when the
teaching stops.
101. There are many speakers in this
world. Those who walk are rare. The
walkers remain silent.

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