Step By Step All Will Come To 'I'

Sri Ramana Maharshi

24-3-1946

I referred to Swami Sambuddhananda’s last question, what to do with those who have lost faith in God and who, if asked to find out their source, may say, ‘Our parents are the source from which we spring.’ 

Bhagavan: Fancy a man saying our source is our parents. 

I asked, “But what about a pure materialist, who does not believe in God. How are we to deal with him?”

Bhagavan: He will come gradually, step by step, to find out the source of ‘I’. First, adversity will make him feel that there is a power beyond his control, upsetting his plans. Then, he will begin with rituals, ceremonial worship, and through japa, kirtan, dhyana, go on to vichara. 

I asked Bhagavan, “What is the fire that is called the Nachiketa fire in the Kathopanishad?”

Bhagavan: “I don’t know what exactly it is. It must refer to some fire ritual. These terms are generally symbolical. Only today, I saw in the current number of the Ramakrishna Vijayam an article on the Five Fires.” So saying, he took up the journal and read out to us almost the whole of the article. It refers to the svarga loka, the megha mandala, the earth, man and woman as the five fires, and gives allegorical interpretations for all the details.