Nirvana

Sri Ramana Maharshi

Mr. Cohen, a resident disciple, has been for some days past thinking about a book called Nirvana written by a prominent Theosophist, wherein the author claims to reach nirvana every night after going to sleep. He claims to see his own Master and other Masters of the Theosophical Society as bright lights within the ocean of light which is nirvana. He asked Sri Bhagavan how it could be possible, considering the Advaitic teaching that the nirvanic experience is the same as that of the pure consciousness of Being.

M.: Nirvana is Perfection. In the Perfect State there is neither subject nor object; there is nothing to see, nothing to feel, nothing to know. Seeing and knowing are the functions of the mind. In nirvana there is nothing but the blissful pure consciousness “I am.” 

D.: How then can a prominent T. S. leader, who claims clairvoyance of a high order, praise the author for his supposed correct and vivid description of nirvana, and why is the T. Society so much obsessed by the idea of ‘Service’? 

M.: Well, Theosophy and other kindred movements are good inasmuch as they make a man unselfish and prepare him for the highest truth. Service, like prayers, japas and even business done in God’s name, lead to the highest goal - Self-Realisation. 

D.: But after how long? and why should a man who is ready for the Absolute knowledge stick to the knowledge of the Relative? 

M.: Everything happens in its own time. The one who is ready for the absolute knowledge will be made somehow to hear of it and follow it up. He will realise that Atmavidya is the highest of all virtues and also the end of the journey. Then, asked about the difference between external and internal nirvikalpa samadhis, referring to article 391 above, the Master said: External samadhi is holding on to the Reality while witnessing the world, without reacting to it from within. There is the stillness of a waveless ocean. The internal samadhi involves loss of bodyconsciousness.