Divine Teachings of Ram

By Pranay

A MUST-READ SPIRITUAL GUIDE Sri Ram signifies the heart and soul of Indian spirituality. Regarded as an avatar of Lord Vishnu, Ram always met the greatest challenges with poise, courage, and dynamism. Each aspect of his personality— as the ultimate warrior, greatest leader, and beloved spiritual icon— has so much to teach us. Presented in this mystical and practical guide are Ram' s most profound lessons for fearless, dynamic living. The author has drawn on various scriptures and sacred texts, revealing powerful spiritual secrets and insights. These empowering teachings are key to living a life of both material and spiritual success.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fingerprint Publishing
• Release date: Mar 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9789354407673

Book preview

CHAPTER-1

The Soul Is Pure Bliss

In the sacred text the Ram Gita, Lord Shiva tells Goddess Parvati about Sri Ram’s great wisdom. The aspects of Ram that are found in the Ram Gita, as well as in the Yoga Vasishtha, allow us a full view into his highest and most heroic mystic wisdom.

Ram effortlessly bridges both aspects of our lives: the material and the spiritual, teaching us the greatest lessons for facing and overcoming tough times. His profoundly soulful spiritual keys allow us to live fearlessly, dynamically, and successfully, even in the face of challenges.

The very essence of Vedanta can be found in Ram’s advice and wisdom! In fact, Vedantic scriptures related to Ram—such as the Ram Gita/Adhyatma Ramayan/Yoga Vasishtha—are amongst the purest collections of Vedantic knowledge. These treasure troves of Hindu/Indian spirituality were often quoted by sages such as Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Sivananda, and Ramana Maharishi (especially in the context of atma-vichaar or self-enquiry: a key concept in the wisdom of India’s ancient rishis, and that of personalities such as Adi Shankaracharya).

Vedanta contains the most precious gems and pearls of deeply mystical insight. This book focuses on the highest Vedanta, whose diamonds of self-realized truth are most eloquently condensed and expressed by Sri Ram in his own utterly beautiful and original way! These divine teachings reinvigorate our vital life energy or prana, taking us from fear (bhaya) to absolute fearlessness (abhaya).

The Great Teachings

Similar to the Vedas and the Upanishads, Ram’s highest wisdom is about the atma or soul. He says:

‘The inner soul—the atma within you—is completely blissful. Why must you think that sorrow exists in the soul? Thinking so is ignorance. Through true knowledge, this ignorance disappears!’

Here, Sri Ram is saying something immensely significant: that at the level of soul, we are sheer bliss, we are sheer delight and joyful energy! The problem is that we think that our self—our real nature—is the mind. But here, Ram is talking about something far deeper than the mind. The mind experiences sorrow, the mind experiences happiness, and so on. But the soul itself—the atma, the basic consciousness of our self—is just pure bliss, ananda, joy, that does not experience sorrow. Realizing this empowers one immensely in the face of every challenge in life.

This teaching takes us towards unbroken happiness or yogic bliss: akhanda ananda. In this state, the mind becomes absolutely calm and composed, steady: sthira. The state of mental stillness and tranquillity (sama) becomes established. One realizes one’s soul as the blissful and immortal essence of being (the aksharatma).

You don’t need to do anything as such to achieve this: through inward meditative solitude (ekanta), you can experience and realize it! In essence, the teaching is about ‘aham atma’: knowing yourself as pure soul.

Tradition and Culture

In Hindu tradition, Sri Ram is called the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu. As such, he teaches us the highest lessons for blissfulness in life, no matter what the situation. That is the spiritual way. It is the true warrior’s path. It forms the very basis of Ram’s teachings to all his disciples including the great Hanuman and Vibhishan (encapsulated within the scripture, the Vibhishan Gita), and eventually to the people of his kingdom, Ayodhya (the Purjan Gita).

The mystic warrior’s code is being grounded in a state of dhairya (steadiness of courage) and saakshi-bhava (pure witnessing awareness).

It all begins with understanding the blissful nature of the soul. In that way, Ram encapsulates the very basis of the teachings of Hindu mysticism or Sanatan Dharma (the ancient path), as expressed through Vedic wisdom. The very word ‘Ram’ itself comes from the Sanskrit root meaning the delightful bliss within! All things in creation are fundamentally comprised of ananda or deep bliss-delight-joy. His divine persona teaches us to be established in the state of akshobhya (unperturbed, composed and collected), and to act accordingly.

Through this great spiritual or ‘soulful’ realization, Ram surpasses all warrior-heroes in world mythology. He is a beloved spiritual icon, matchless warrior, and inspirational leader for all!

Due to the deeply blissful aspect of Ram’s message, the impact/imprint of his and Sita’s life—and that of the epic Ramayan itself, and its myriad characters—is so deep within all of South and South-East Asia. For example, the cultures of Indonesia (Bali, in particular), ancient Cambodia (their own epic based on the Ramayan is called the Reamker), Thailand (where kings are still given the title ‘Rama’ in honour of his name) celebrate Ram and the Ramayan’s stories through dance/art/song and so on. Ram is celebrated in so many ways because he signifies both dynamism in action and devotion in spirit.

According to Indian tradition, even while pursuing the path of the warrior, Ram established the practice of the autumnal, akaal bodhan worship of Durga: in his typical self-sacrifical manner, he is famously said to have offered one of his own ‘lotus eyes’ (kamal nayan) as a sacrifice to the Goddess (which the Devi herself prevented just in time, delighted with his great humbleness and devotion). And his worship of Shiva is legendary (at Rameshwaram; in fact, it is mentioned by Ram in his Purjan Gita that devotion to Shiva is key to understanding Ram).

Yet the core idea is this: all these different aspects of Ram point to his very vibe being one of bliss, no matter what he undertook: whether as his duties as a warrior, or as an example of the devotional worshipper, or as the avatar who embodies the highest spiritual wisdom! All this leads to the bliss of true spiritual strength to face all of life’s challenges.

Spiritual Strength: Atma-Bal or Soul-Force

Knowing the blissful power of the soul, atma-bal, is indeed the secret of having real strength for energetic, calm, soulful, successful living. Spiritual strength is the true basis of all material strength: for all aspects of life, whether professional or personal. It leads to a realization of one’s spiritually infinite capacities, instead of feeling limited by material circumstances or situations, by mental states of being, or by emotions.

Ram’s personality is one which demonstrates this principle of spiritual strength.

His key life lessons for the whole world are founded on this principle, and therefore they have a timeless and universal appeal. Ram shows us how to always function in a spiritual flow: how, in every life situation, to function from calmness instead of anxiety, courage instead of fear, hope instead of hopelessness. These underlying principles demonstrated by Ram in his own life and teachings hold true for all aspects of our lives: at work, and in our personal space. Especially during today’s times of massive anxiety and uncertainty, his example can be a great guide to us. His teachings begin with the lesson of spiritual realization: knowing the soul to be comprised of the highest strength and energy and power of bliss/delight. If we become established in this wisdom, we spontaneously move towards greater calmness, courage, and inner power.

Understanding the Soul

Ram’s lesson for us—that the soul is purely blissful, pure joy, luminous, purely powerful and pristine—is truly something to pay deepest attention to, in order to live a fearless and successful life.

When you refer to yourself as a person of blissful soul, and that the mind is peripheral