Knowing Self = Knowing God

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Q: Even though the heart and the Brahmarandhra alone are the loci fit for meditation, could one meditate, if necessary, on the six mystic centres (adharas)?

M: The six mystic centres etc. which are said to be loci of meditation, are but products of imagination. All these are meant for beginners in yoga. With reference to meditation on the six centres, the Shiva yogins say, "God, who is of the nature of the non-dual, plenary, consciousness-self, manifests, sustains and resolves us all. It is a great sin to to spoil that Reality by superimposing on it various names and forms such as Ganapathi, Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra, Maheshwara and Sadashiva" and the vedantins declare, "All those are but imaginations of the mind". Therefore, if one knows one's Self which is of the nature of consciousness that knows everything, one knows everything. The great ones have also said: "When that One is known as it is in Itself, all that has not been known becomes known." If we, who are endowed with various thoughts meditate on God that is the Self, we would get rid of the plurality of thoughts by that one thought; and then even that one thought would vanish. This is what is meant by saying that knowing one's Self is knowing God. This knowledge is release.

Q: How is one to think of the Self?

M: The Self is self-luminous without darkness and light, and is the reality which is self-manifest. Therefore, one should not think of it as this or as that. The very thought of thinking will end in bondage. The purport of meditation on the Self is to make the mind take the form of the Self. In the middle of the heart-cave the pure Brahman is directly manifest as the Self in the form of I-I. Can there be greater ignorance than to think of it in manifold ways, without knowing it as aforementioned?