Wellness Curated
On Wellness Curated, Anshu Bahanda gets world renowned experts on physical and mental health to guide you pro bono. Packed with content that helps people to understand their bodies and minds better and to find relief from the pain and restrictions that have long prevented them from living their best lives, this show is a go-to resource for anyone who wants to improve their quality of life.
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Wellness Curated
The Essence of Happiness in Upadesa Saram
Join Anshu Bahanda as she discusses the Upadesa Saram with Michael James, who has dedicated over twenty years to studying under Sri Ramana Maharishi at his ashram. Michael's insights reveal how self-inquiry can lead to profound happiness.
Today’s relentless quest for quick fixes often leaves us feeling empty. Upadesa Saram cuts through this noise, guiding us towards peace through the power of inner reflection and stillness. Michael illustrates how these timeless teachings help us cope with modern stresses and personal challenges.
Learn how adopting a more introspective approach can transform our lives, offering a deeper, more sustained sense of fulfillment. What if the key to a richer life lies not in external achievements, but in reconnecting with our inner selves?
Tune in to "Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living" to see how integrating ancient philosophies like those in the Upadesa Saram can bring clarity and joy into the hustle of today’s world.
For a transcript of this show, go to https://wellnesscurated.life/the-essence-of-happiness-in-upadesa-saram-2/
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Anshu Bahanda: So, in the Daruka forest, the Rishis, or the ascetics, believe that by doing rituals they would attain liberation. So, to correct this, Lord Shiva appeared with Parvati, his Shakti. They appeared as wandering ascetics and they taught them that true freedom comes from self-realisation and not from just actions. Centuries later, Muruganar was a Tamil poet and he wanted to retell this legend, but he believed that only his guru, who was Bhagavan Shri Ramana Maharishi, would be able to do justice to this. And in response to this, Sri Ramana Maharishi wrote the Upadesa Undiyar. This later got translated to Sanskrit as Upadesa Saram, the essence of instructions. In this text he talks about selfless action, devotion and meditation, which was Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Dhyana Yoga. And he led seekers towards Atma Vichar, or self-inquiry, which was the realisation of your own true self. Welcome to another episode of Wellness Curated. This is our series Ancient Wisdom for Modern Living and as you know, we're talking about sacred texts, timeless wisdom, and today we're going to discuss the Upadesa Saram and its timeless relevance. And for that we have someone incredible today. We have Michael James, who is a practitioner and a scholar of Ramana Maharishi's teachings, and in 1976 he went and spent two decades at the Ashram at Ramana Maharishi's Ashram in Tiruvannamalai and he studied under the influence of Shri Sadhu Om. He's translated and authored a whole load of books from Ramana Maharishi including Happiness and the Art of Being. And he's responsible for globally spreading this word. And we're delighted to have you here. Michael, thank you for being here with us today.
Michael James: Thank you.
AB: Michael, I first want you to tell us how did you get involved with Ramana Maharishi's teachings, sitting where you are?
MJ: I can say it in one word, his grace.
AB: Lovely.
MJ: By his grace. At a very young age, I was drawn to India and while travelling around India, I heard about Bhagavan. I came to Tiruvannamalai and as soon as I read the first work of Bhagavan's, that I read was an English translation of ‘Na Na who Am I’? And as soon as I read that, I knew this is what I was looking for.
AB: Now tell me, we're going to delve a little bit into the Upadesa Saram today.
MJ: Yes.
AB: Can you explain to me the core of it and why is it relevant today?
MJ: Okay. To understand the core of it, we need to understand that it's an integral part of Bhagavan's teachings. It's one of the central works of Bhagavan's teachings. And Bhagavan's teachings are all a coherent whole. So, we need to understand the core teachings of the core message of Bhagavan's teachings. It can be expressed in various ways. We can express it from a perspective of being Sat, Awareness-Chit or Happiness-Ananda. So, I'll take from the perspective of Ananda, that is, Bhagavan has revealed that our real nature is infinite happiness. Happiness is what we are all seeking. Because having risen as ego and identified ourselves as a person, we have limited ourself. So as this finite being that we now take ourselves to be, we cannot experience the infinite happiness that we actually are. But nothing less than infinite happiness will satisfy us. Dissatisfaction is the very nature of a Jiva, or soul ego. As Ramakrishna Paramahamsa very beautifully said, the fact that we are all dissatisfied and that nothing can satisfy us itself shows that our real nature is Brahman. Brahman is the infinite whole. So, nothing less than the infinite can satisfy us. Because we have limited ourselves, we seem to be lacking happiness. And because happiness seems to be lacking in ourselves, we naturally look for happiness outside. We think if we have money, if we have possessions, if we have kind and loving friends and relatives, if we have name and fame or learning or we are all seeking happiness in so many different ways. Even people who have, nowadays there are people who have hundreds of billions of dollars, but they're not satisfied. They want more and more and more. So, dissatisfaction is the very nature of being a Jiva, being an individual soul. We are inherently dissatisfied. So, the central message of Upadesa Undiyar is that we cannot attain happiness by any amount of actions, but only by being as we actually are. So long as we're looking for happiness outside ourselves, we have to do something to acquire this. We're not only looking for things in this world. We also want (them) in the next world. The sages in the Daruka forest, they were not actually seeking liberation. They were essentially seeking Artha and Karma. That is, they were seeking material prosperity and sensual pleasures, both in this world and in the world to come. They believed they do these Vedic rituals. If they abide by the Dharma, they will attain all the wealth and pleasures that they seek in this world and in the world to come. So that was their aim. They were so proud of their own actions, their own ritual actions. They believed there is no God except Karma, except their ritual actions. So, if they do these ritual actions correctly, they will get everything that they want.
AB: Correct.
MJ: That is why Lord Shiva appeared in the forest to set them on the right path. He didn't actually appear with Shakti, he appeared with Mahavishnu.
AB: Interesting.
MJ: Mahavishnu often accompanies Shiva in the form of Mohini, a beautiful enchantment.
AB: Oh, that's interesting because where I had read it, it said he appeared with Parvati. So that's interesting that you're saying he appeared with Mahavishnu in Mohini form.
MJ: In many Puranic stories, Lord Vishnu appears as Mohini. In some Puranic stories, Shakti is the sister of Vishnu. But ultimately all are one.
AB: Ultimately, it's all one energy. Yes.
MJ: But all these stories, they all illustrate certain Tattvas, certain very deep principles, the teachings that were given by Lord Shiva. Since Bhagavan Ramana is Arunachala Shaiva himself, Murugana took this opportunity to tell this story and to ask Bhagavan Ramana to write, summarise the teachings given by Lord Shiva. So, the essence of the teachings, this Upadesa Saram is that happiness is attained not by doing, but by being. What that means is explained in the text very beautifully.
AB: Lovely.
MJ: But this text also includes Bhagavan shows how all types of spiritual practises ultimately lead to this. To this ultimate practice of Atma Vichara.
AB: Yes. Which is, which is itself self-inquiry.
MJ: It's self-inquiry, self-investigation, but it is also self-surrender.
AB: It's also self-surrender. And what you're telling me about infinite happiness and self-inquiry, to me it's, it's what I've studied in the Vedas and the Bhagavad Gita as well. At the end of the day, like you're saying, a lot of our religious practices come down to this.
MJ: Exactly.
AB: Michael, I want to ask you about Karma Yoga. Now. In the Upadesa Saram he says that that itself will not lead to liberation. Right?
MJ: Yes.
AB: But when I put it in the context of today, and I keep coming back to today because that's what I want people to understand. How are these things relevant today? I want you to talk to us in the context of achievements, productivity, and competition. How does Karma Yoga work in these contexts? And how can we give life a deeper meaning using Upadesa Saram?
MJ: We are not so much unlike those Dharakavana Rishis, we too are seeking happiness outside ourselves. We are seeking through actions, they were seeking through ritual actions. Nowadays we seek by getting educated, getting jobs, becoming doctors, engineers, business people. But it's all essentially the same. We are looking for happiness outside ourselves. And we believe that by doing this or that we will achieve what we want. So, this is the mistake we are all making. We believe that happiness is something that we will acquire by acquiring more possessions or more friends, or more relatives, or more name and fame, or more learning or more this or more that. Actually, happiness is our own real nature. So, we don't depend on anything other than ourselves for happiness. So long as we seek happiness outside ourselves, we're going to be disappointed. Whatever we may achieve in this life, even if we become the wealthiest person in the world, or the most famous person in the world, or the most learned person in the world, or whatever it is, however much we achieve, we know this life is temporary. We can't find the satisfaction, the infinite and eternal satisfaction we're seeking in this material life. But we have an opportunity to seek that happiness within ourselves. So, if we want to find real meaning in life, meaning that extends beyond the small time frame of the life of this body, we need to seek that happiness within ourselves.
That is what this Upadesa Saram is all about. So, what Bhagavan says at the beginning in verse two, he says the fruit of action is transient. It passes away. ‘Phalamāsāśvatam’, he says in the Sanskrit version. But that is, when we do an action as a result of that action, there'll be a certain fruit. We can't eat the same mango twice. Once you've eaten a mango, it's finished, but what remains is the seed. So, it's the seeds or Vasanas that make us fall in the great ocean of action. That's what he calls ‘Kriti Mahodadhou Patana Karanam’, the cause for falling in this great ocean of action. So, he concludes by saying in Tamil he says, ‘Bidu Tarelle’. In Sanskrit, he says even more emphatically ‘Gati Nirodakam’, it will obstruct liberation. Doing action is not the way to liberation. However, he goes on in the next verse, if action is done, ‘Nishkamya’, that means without desire for the fruit.
AB: Yes, yes.
MJ: But in Tamil he says, ‘Kathanukakkam’, done for God. That means done for the love of God. In Sanskrit, he says, ‘Ishwararpitam’, offered to God. So, if we are acting not motivated by desire for some result, but just for the love of God, that will purify the mind and show the way to Liberation. This is Karma Yoga. But Bhagavan doesn't separate Karma Yoga from Bhakti.
AB: Bhakti Yoga, Exactly.
MJ: He shows the essential link between them, which is also very clearly implied by Krishna in so many ways in the Bhagavad Gita.
AB: Yes, absolutely.
MJ: So, they are not two separate paths. Actually, if we understand Upadesa Saram correctly, what Bhagavan is teaching us is that the preliminary stages of the path of Bhakti are Karma Yoga. That is, he says in the next verse, in the fourth verse, we have three instruments of action. Mind, speech and body, and Puja. Japa and Dhyana are actions of mind, speech and body. And in this order, each is more efficacious than the previous one.
AB: He's even taken Dhyana into Karma Yoga.
MJ: Yes, yes. It's an action of the mind. Okay, but when he said each is more efficacious than the previous one, what he means is it's more effective in purifying the mind. So, if we do actions by body, doing ritual worship, for example, that will purify the mind if it is done for the love of God. And many people do puja in order to get this or that from God. That is not the true Bhakti, the true Bhakti is when we are worshipping God just for the love of God, not because of what we can get from God, but because we love God. More efficacious is Japa, which is done by speech. And more efficacious is Dhyana, which is done by mind, efficacious in purifying the mind, that is. So, Bhagavan doesn't limit worship just to ritual worship. There's so many ways we can worship God.
AB: You're saying to me that action, devotion and meditation are all on how you actually lead your life every day?
MJ: Yes, that's right.
AB: It's not about sitting down and doing the prayers or doing the meditation, though it could be that as well.
MJ: It could be, it includes that also, but it's not limited to that.
AB: But tell me how exactly? My question now, you've seen the lives everyone is leading on this planet today, how can we do it in our everyday lives all the time?
MJ: It's very much easier to say it than to do it.
AB: Yes.
MJ: But it comes down to what we actually value in life. Most people who go to temples and churches and mosques and gurudwaras and synagogues and so on, they go because they want something from God. But if we are following the true path of Bhakti, we are not seeking anything from God. Whatever we do, we are doing it for the love of God.
AB: Selfless devotion.
MJ: It's a change in our attitude. But for this it's important to recognise that it's natural for us to desire wealth and sensual pleasure, all these things. These are natural things for us to desire. But we need to recognise these will never satisfy us. And only if we recognise that we cannot get the satisfaction we're seeking from all these things will we look for something higher, something deeper and meaning. And God is not something, some distant being. God is ever present in our own heart. This is very central to Vedanta. As Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, ‘Ahamatma Gudakesha’. He's the self in each one of us. He is what we essentially are.
AB: ‘Aham Brahmasmi’.
MJ: Exactly. So, this also is dealt with in the later verses of Upadesa Undira. Bhagavan explains very clearly. First, he talks about Puja. Then better than Puja is Japa. And he talks about different types of Japa. You can either do it singing hymns aloud or you can do Japa. Better than that is doing Japa aloud. Better than doing Japa aloud is doing it softly in the mouth. Better than that is doing it mentally and mental Japa is a type of Dhyana.
AB: Meditation.
MJ: Yeah. And then he goes on in the next verse about meditation. What he says about meditation is rather than interruptive meditation, meditation that is uninterrupted, like the flow of a stream or the pouring of ghee. Unbroken meditation is better here in this context, he's referring to meditation on the name or form of God. So, if we're meditating on the name or form of God, if our mind is often going away, if our thoughts often intruding and our mind wanders away towards other things, that means we're more interested in those other things than we are in God. When the love for God is deep and intense, the meditation on God will be uninterrupted. When the love is not so deep and not so intense, our meditation will often be interrupted by other thoughts. That's why he said that uninterrupted meditation is best among all. Meditation isn't just a matter of sitting down with eyes closed. We can be meditating even in the midst of day-to-day activities. Many people, many devotees, they'll continue doing Japa, for example, mental Japa throughout the day. Whatever they may be doing, they'll continue repeating the name of God. Meditation shouldn't be limited just to the times when we sit in meditation, it should go on. Our aim should be to go on throughout the day.
AB: That reminds me so much about Zen meditation, where every task is a meditation in itself, no matter how mundane.
MJ: Yeah, exactly.
AB: Okay, so I want to ask you more about ‘Atman Vichara’ or self-inquiry, which is at the heart of Shree Ramana Maharishi's teachings and there was this really lovely anecdote about someone going to him and saying, my mind is full of persistent thoughts. And he said, to whom do these thoughts arise? And which was a really beautiful way of explaining it.
And it's something I'm going to use in my life.
MJ: What Bhagavan says in that connection, people often think, it's often misinterpreted that Bhagavan recommended that we ask “to whom?”. But that is not really what he meant. What he meant, what he said actually is investigate “to whom?”. Sometimes asking “to whom?” can remind us, but it's not just a matter of asking the question. Investigating “to whom?” means turning our attention away from whatever appears, whatever thoughts come and trouble us, turning our attention away from those thoughts back towards ourself.
AB: Lovely.
MJ: Bhagavan has defined what he means by ‘Atma Vichara’. He says ‘Sadakalamum Manattai Atmavil Vaittiruppadu’, that is, fixing the mind, always keeping the mind to oneself. This is exactly what Krishna teaches in the Gita. In chapter six, which is a chapter on Jnana Yoga, in verse 25, he says, ‘Gradually, gradually’ - ‘Shanaih Shanaih Uparamed’.
Gradually, gradually withdraw the mind from activity, bring it to stillness. And he ends that verse by saying ‘Atmasamstham Manah Kritva Na Kincid Api Cintayet’. Fix the mind on Atma, on oneself, on yourself, and do not think of anything else. That is the path of Atma Vichara Bhagavan has taught.
AB: But I want to bring it back to what is happening in people's minds today. And how distracted people are, how restless people are feeling. And therefore, the increase in all the mental health issues that people are having. You know, overactive minds. Thanks to the Internet, you're looking, you're in Peru, you're in the US, you're in Canada, at the same time your brain is everywhere. And we're feeling so kind of (like) our heads are ready to burst.
MJ: Yes.
AB: How does the wisdom of Upadesa Saram help us with that? And how will it guide us towards peace and clarity?
MJ: All this modern technology, it's constantly feeding our five senses with new sights, new sounds. And all this advertising, get the latest iPhone, get this, get that. So, this is just helping to draw our mind outwards and increase our desires. Desire is pain. That is when we desire something, we desire it because there's something lacking in ourselves. So, the more desire we have, the more we will feel an emptiness in ourselves. So, we're constantly having to try to fill that, but we can never fill it. So, understanding that we cannot get the gratification, the satisfaction we are seeking. However, many gadgets we get, however much we fill our mind, watching this, going through social media, watching films, doing this, this doesn't provide satisfaction. We all know this. We all know from experience. But though we experience dissatisfaction, we are like drug addicts. We know it's not good for us, but we go back to it again and again because we know nothing better. Why a drunkard drinks alcohol, why a drug addict takes drugs, it's because of some emptiness in their life. We are taking all this social media and things. We're using it in exactly the same way that a drunkard uses alcohol. We're trying to fill up some inner emptiness. So long as we continue in that way, we will be perpetually dissatisfied. But if we begin to look within, the more we look within, the more we recognise whatever satisfaction we gain from gratification of our desires is actually the satisfaction that is ever present in our heart. So, we don't need all these things to be happy.
AB: We all know that desire is a bottomless pit, that this is not good.
MJ: Yes.
AB: How do we actually practise it?
MJ: We have desire because we all experience an inner emptiness. The inner emptiness is because we have separated ourselves from what we actually are. What we actually are is infinite happiness. So long as we limit ourselves as this small person born a few years before and who's going to die a few years ahead. We are limited in time, we're limited in space, we're limited in so many ways. So, as this limited being, whatever we acquire cannot satisfy us. So, if we understand that satisfaction is not to be gained from gratifying desires, satisfaction is to be found only within our own heart. It's a journey. We are trying to wean our mind off its outward going inclinations and give it the love to go within. The more we follow this path, the more abiding satisfaction we will find. The things that troubled us in the past, they still may trouble us a little, but they trouble us much less. We'll be less concerned about these things. We'll have more confidence that ultimately there's one power of grace that is taking care of everything. The more we subside within, the more we are depending upon that grace which will take care of everything.
AB: And tell me Michael, you've spent decades studying Ramana Maharishi's work. You've been like a beacon of light to spread his work across the globe. What would you say has been your biggest revelation as far as his work is concerned? And what has been your biggest challenge in spreading the work?
MJ: I don't really consider that it's my work to spread Bhagavan's teaching. Bhagavan's teachings had their own appeal. People who are drawn to his teachings will be naturally drawn to them. We are not missionaries, we're not trying to spread. We're not here to spread these teachings. Bhagavan himself never gave any teachings of his own accord. Only when people asked him did he give any teachings. We are not here to give these teachings to those who are not interested. Most people are too preoccupied with other things. They're not interested in this. That's okay. The same grace that has brought us to this path will eventually bring everyone in due course. So, it's not our mission to propagate these things. But when people ask us, naturally we try to explain what Bhagavan has taught us, what it all means. Some people are able to get it, some people have a lot of difficulty getting it. But I think one of the major obstacles is that people have too many different (ideas), and people have read too much. They've got too many ideas in their mind. Bhagavan's teachings and the core teachings of Vedanta are extremely simple. ‘Ekam Evadvitiyam’, there's one only without a second. And ‘Tattvamasi’, you are that. So, it's very, very simple. But our minds are too complicated. So, because our minds are complicated, we complicate this simplicity. That's why many people find it difficult to grasp how very simple and clear this actually is. So, we need to be ready to set aside our former beliefs and assumptions and question things very deeply. And look deep within ourselves in order to see that clarity and simplicity of the truth.
AB: Wonderful. That was really wonderful. Can I trouble you to give me your favourite verse or one that you think resonates with you, which you think is very relevant to today from the Upadesa Saram?
MJ: As I say, the essential message of Upadesa Saram is the happiness we are seeking is to be found in our being. Not by doing anything, but by just being as we are. And in order to be as we are, we need to turn our attention back within and thereby subside. That's what I was telling you about. Verses 8 and 9. 9 is the verse where Bhagavan says, by the strength of that ‘Ananya Bhava’, that inward looking attention, being in one's own being, that is the supreme devotion. And in the next verse, verse 10, he says,’ Udita Idathil Odungi Irathal Adu Karma Mum Bhaktiyum Undipara Adu Yogamum Jnanam Mundipara’. That means having subsided in the place from which we rose. In other words, having subsided back into our own being, just being in that place. That itself is Karma and Bhakti. That means Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. It is Ashtanga Yoga and it is Jnana. It's all of these. So, it's just a matter. But this can be achieved very simply only by turning our attention within. But that requires supreme love.
AB: That was wonderful. Thank you, Michael. That was such an enlightening conversation. Thank you for taking the time to be here with us and to teach us about the Upadesa Saram today.
MJ: You're most welcome
AB: To our listeners. Thank you for being here with us today to learn a little more about the Upadesa Saram. As Michael told us, it's a combination of Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Dhyana Yoga, which leads us to this path of self-inquiry and that leads us to liberation. It's more than just mere actions. I leave you with this verse. I'm going to read a verse from the Upadesa Saram which I thought was pretty incredible. It says ‘Bandha Mukyatitam Param Sukham Vindatiha Jivatsu Daivika’h, which translates to “Here in this world the divine soul experiences supreme happiness beyond bondage and liberation”.
So, thank you again for listening to us. Until next time. May you find peace. May you find clarity. May you find liberation. Thank you.
