Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1
Front Cover of Booklet
FOR BLISSFUL LIVING
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
SWAMI NIRMALANANDA
========== XXX ===========
On Back Cover
To flower in Goodness, read our following publications by Swami Nirmalananda
Flowers from the Forest
Zen, a way of life
Poetical Religion
Our Rishis
To Live to Benefit Mankind
The Kingdom of Happiness
Music and Poetry in Life
Enlightened Anarchism
Swami Nirmalananda by Prof K.S.Ramakrishna Rao M.A. Retd. Prof of Philosophy
Conversations with Swami Nirmalananda By Chris Walker
========= XXXX ===============
Q : Part 1 By Shri V.VISWANATHAN
Part 2 By Prof.R.MORTENSEN pH.D
A : BY SWAMI NIRMALANANDA
1991 Published by Viswa Shanti Niketana , B.R.Hills-571313
Karnataka, India
Printed by Kittel Printers Mysore-2, India
======== XXX ======
The Bliss and beauty of self-awareness cannot be described in words-
Swami Nirmalananda
===== XXX ====
PART - 1
FOREWORD
Curious to see the man who had lived in silence and solitude for almost three decades, I went to
B.R.Hills seeking Swamiji. I felt his silence flowering into a benign look with a beaming face, as
though the Heaven was smiling on me !
In his silent presence, questions that had troubled me for twenty five years poured forth
spontaneously . These are the fundamental questions of life and those who grapple with them
will have no need to ask any further questions. The answers not only satisfied me, but also
inspired the idea to publish the questions and answers for the benefit of all seekers
V.Viswanathan , Madras
Questions and Answers- Part 1
Q : Tell me, Swamiji, what is the nature of the Self or Reality according to your experience ?
2
A : One, without beginning and end. Immensely great, Immeasurably vast, the Eternal and the
All- knowing without form
Q : How to enter into that space without wandering in the jungle of thoughts ?
A : You are that only. At the core of your being, the Self alone exists. Just BE That without
thoughts.
Q : Why are we so much disturbed by thoughts, repeatedly tortured and tormented by our own
mind?
A : In the mind of the thoughtless , all sorts of thoughts crop up like weeds grow in the garden,
whereas in an alert, attentive and watchful mind, thoughts are not allowed to function.
Q : How to find it ?
A : By purifying one’s own mind and making it subtle, sensitive, crystal clear and transparent.
Q : Where is it felt ?
A : In the Heart
3
Q : How can one experience it?
A : By merging the mind in the Heart
Q : When the mind is merged in the Self, what does one experience?
A : Undisturbed Peace, Happiness and Freedom
Q : What is pleasure?
A : It originates in the mind with the help of the senses. It has a beginning and an end. But bliss
is ever-present, no coming and going.
Q : How to find it ?
A : By making the mind as pure and transparent as the empty space
Q : Is God partial ?
A : Never
Q : Why am I suffering like this with all sorts of fear and mental agitations ?
A : By your projecting all sorts of thoughts and by reaping what you have already sown.
4
Q : How to live to benefit mankind?
A : By loving one and all and by extending your compassion to all creatures
Q : Your look seems to be different from the look of others. It is like cutting deep into one’s
mind.
A : It is Jnana-drishti (look of Wisdom), it is impersonal Universal Vision. It is like looking at
everything trough a baby’s mind.
Q : Does this look help those whom you gaze at fore receiving your blessings ?
A : Yes, if you look at me with innocent eyes with a quiet and un-judging mind.
Q : How to light one’s own lamp and remain as light unto oneself?
A : When the mind runs after various objects of thoughts, one’s energy is often wasted serving
no useful purpose. This also invites all sorts of problem in life. But when the outward-going
thoughts are turned inward to their Source in self-awareness, the light is turned on oneself in a
state of awakening and illumination. Thus the light is lit and one is able to remain as a light unto
oneself, shedding love and Compassion.
5
FOREWORD
Having known Swami Nirmalananda for over ten years, I deeply respect his profound Wisdom
and his serious and sincere concern for the sorry state of the world at present. Sharing his
conviction that the only cure will be a radical inner transformation taking place individual by
individual, it seems to me that publication of the following set of questions and answers may
provide a catalyst to spur a spiritual awakening in persons who are ready. These questions and
answers represent the distilled essence of many significant and profound verbal and non-verbal
interchanges between Swamiji and me. May they strike the spark in you that will enable you to
become a lamp unto yourself!
Prof Richard E.Mortensen pH.D
Los Angeles, California , U.S.A
Q : Is it the imagination of your mind or are you repeating what others have already said?
A : Never. One’s own search for Truth should lead one to it and should end in it. Otherwise the
mind will never be at rest.
6
Q : Does thought play any part in being aware ?
A : No, one should be aware choice-lessly without choosing with the mind, without projecting
thoughts.
Q : What does one “see” when one does not choose with the mind or when the mind does not
project thoughts?
A : Pure Awareness, the Eternal Now.
Q : When one has a glimpse of the Absolute, how to make that vision wide, vast and constant?
A : By constant attention, by expanding awareness.
Q : Does the world exist in the Self or the Self in the world ?
A : Though the Self is everywhere, it would be more correct to say that the world is in the Self
because it is infinitely greater than the limited world.
Q : How to make the mind as pure and transparent as the space?
A : By being one with the Universe
Q : As in sleep?
A : Yes, but in a wide awakened state with attentive awareness, not in the state of gross darkness
which overpowers one in sleep
Q : In such a Universal Mind, what is the place of one’s own will and opinion ?
A : “Not my will, but thy Will be done”, as Christ said
7
Q : How to live in love and friendship with all ?
A : By living in constant companion-ship with this friendly Universe
Q : What is the state of the mind that lives in the tune with the Infinite ?
A : A state of unknowing. Too much of knowing creates only more problems. By stirring the
muddy water you don’t make it clear. So also do not stir up the mind with all sorts of thoughts
Q : What is the use of mouth keeping silent if the mind is constantly chattering ?
A : No use, yet in a closed mouth the flies do not enter !
8
Q : How to be a whole and complete being ?
A : By loving the Universe and by being loved by it
Q : Will this kind of loving the One make me and others more happy ?
A : yes. Love is gentle, but powerful
9
Q : How to know that I am you only in a different body ?
A : By knowing the essence and substance in all
Q : How to remove the waves of thoughts which the mind throws up continually one after
another ?
A : By awareness and attentive watchfulness
Q : Can one store it up in the store-house of memory and then remember and think of it later ?
A : This experience can not be stored in the memory, but experienced from moment to moment
in the living Present
Q: How to experience it ?
A : By making the mind ever more subtle, swift and sensitive
10
Q : How to end thoughts and remain in thoughts-free state ?
A : By merging the mind in the Self
Q : I want to be more clear about the mind, thought and the Self
A : The Self does not think, thoughts are alien to its nature. It is the mind that thinks. When the
mind is merged in the Self, one is in the thought-free and the effortless state of peace and
Happiness
Q : In this state, does one give much interest to various happenings in the world and society ?
A : Only a casual interest. Various happenings are taking place all the time all over the world.
One’s mind should not remain occupied with them
11
Q : What is your Message to mankind ?
A : Love alone can dispel the present madness of hate. “Let your light (of love) so shine, before
all “ as Christ asks us, that there may be evermore bright and radiating light which hatred cannot
over-shadow. When the Heart rules the mind, life has altogether a different quality and
dimension.
12
The poet rightly says :
“ God is in His Heaven
All is right with the world “
As one’s own mind is often faulty, one should learn to correct oneself, not others. The wise
control themselves where as others are controlled by society. When we transgress the laws of
Heaven, we pay the penalty by inviting problems for ourselves and for others. By rocking the
boat, we not only endanger our own life but also the lives of many others.
The Seer “sees” and in that impersonal universal vision he finds his unity, one-ness and
fulfillment in life without getting involved in anything. Nor does he interfere in the affairs of
others who act according to their different tendencies, reasoning-s and stages of development
over which we have no control.
Feeding the hungry, educating the illiterates, healing the sick and other philanthropic activities
may be necessary in society. Still greater is the need to get awakened , to adjust one’s own mind
and to change one’s angle of vision so that one may not become an instrument of terror, mischief
and misery in causing untold harm to oneself and others. The poor and the needy, we will always
have, but an enlightened soul is a rare blessing on earth. Even one single enlightened person
anywhere in the world is like a lighthouse of humanity !
= Swami Nirmalananda
==== XXX ==
Inside Back page of booklet
Q : How to perform Tapas (austerities) and Ugra-Tapas (intense austerities) ?
A : Fanning and feeding the inner fire is Tapas. This is done in the sitting position, spine erect. A
running person, with the attention diverted , cannot do Tapas. The heart has to be stirred
constantly with the mind. The attention being united with one’s breath, fan the fire gently all the
time and also feed it with the fuel of pure emotion. When this is done with single-minded
purpose, devotion , dedication and total sincerity, the heating up process is intensified. This is
Ugra-Tapas.
13
14