CURRENT READING- WHO AM I? (4th) | Philosophical Guidance

We continue with the guiding principles of Bhagavan Sri Ramana.

THEOLOGICAL

“It is by virtue of the mere presence of God that the souls governed by the three (cosmic) functions or the fivefold divine activity perform their actions and then rest, in accordance with their respective karma. God has no resolve; no karma attaches itself to Him.” – There is a lot here. First the Maharshi believes in the existence of God. Second, the divine is immanent in the world and the active administrator of reality. Third, God’s administration involves ‘three (cosmic) functions,’ or fundamental processes: creation, preservation, and destruction (consider the cycle of living things – birth, life, and death) or more completely, the ‘five-fold divine activities’ (pañcakrtya) including two more processes, thus: “creation, maintenance, annihilation, concealment, and blessing… The first four concern the evolution of the world and the fifth is the cause of salvation.”²³Fourth, the word ‘governed’ suggests the Maharshi believes human actions should be guided by the divine blueprint. Fifth, karma, the inevitable consequences (reward or penalty) of the actions of mortals in life (and, for Hindus, in prior lives), relates to being in accord with the design of the deity. Sixth, “God has no resolve” may mean God will not interfere with humans who, in fact, have the free will to align with the divine plan or not… subject to karma however. Last, the passage closes with both a theological principle and a warning: only God is immune to the cosmic law of karma.
“Giving oneself up to God means remaining constantly in the Self without giving room for the rise of any thoughts other than that of the Self.”– The Maharshi offers a pathway to the fifth divine activity -‘blessing.’ Final interpolation into the cosmic cycle for us occurs by thought suppression and immersion in the Self. Before we assess the Maharshi’s spiritual exercise that facilitates this immersion, we explore the mystical principles on which it is grounded in the next post.